I 


IvIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  i8g4. 
^Accessions  No.  iTTI C>^  -      Class  No,        ^ 


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OF  THE 


"^i)MM    €-ALVI(if. 


IslEW-YOKK.    H  A  RPER  «L  BROTHtRS. 


THE 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 


COMPILED    FROM 


AUTHENTIC  SOURCES,  AND  PARTICULARLY 
FROM  HIS  CORRESPONDENCE. 


BY  THOMAS  H.  DYER. 


mm  a  ^Portrait 


K: 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 
FRANKLIN     SQUARE. 

1855. 


5T/tf 


PRE  FACE. 


The  following  narrative  is  founded,  as  much  as 
possible,  on  Calvin's  correspondence ;  and,  wherever 
it  was  practicable,  he  has  been  left  to  speak  for  him- 
self. Where  that  could  not  be  done,  recourse  has 
been  chiefly  had  to  Euchat's  elaborate  History  of 
the  Reformation  in  Switzerland,^  and  to  Dr.  Paul 
Henry's  recently  published  biography  of  Calvin. f 
Considerable  information  has  also  been  gathered  from 
the  Lives  of  Farel  and  Beza,  from  the  pens  of  Kirch- 
hofer  and  Schlosser ;  and,  for  the  nature  of  Calvin's 
intercourse  with  Servetus,  and  other  Antitrinitarians, 
from  Mosheim's  very  ample  account  of  Servetus  in 
the  second  volume  of  his  "  Ketzer-Geschichte^''''  and 
from  Trechsel's  work,  <«  Die  Antitrinitarier P  In 
the  last   are  given  the   minutes  of  Servetus's  trial 

*  Histoire  de  la  Reformation  de  la  Suisse,  nouvelle  Ed.,  7  vols.,  8vo, 
Nyon,  1835-1838. 

t  Das  Leben  J.  Calvins  des  grossen  Reformators,  3  b.,  8vo.,  Ham- 
burg, 1835-1844. 


vi  PREFACE. 

at  Geneva,  from  a  copy  in  the  Archives  of  Berne ; 
and  as  these  differ  only  in  the  orthography  from  the 
account  recently  published  by  M.  Rilliet,  from  the 
original  documents,^  the  author  has  less  reason  to 
regret  that  he  was  unable  to  procure  the  latter  work. 
In  order  to  verify  as  much  as  possible  the  facts  stated 
in  the  course  of  the  narrative,  the  extracts  from  the 
Registers,  or  Council  Book  of  Geneva,  published  by 
M.  Grenus,  in  his  "  Fragmens  Historiques^^  and 
"  Biographiques,''^  have  also  been  consulted. 

Before  the  publication  of  Dr.  Henry's  Life  of 
Calvin,  no  adequate  biography  of  him  can  be  said 
to  have  existed ;  but  that  work  presents  materials 
abundantly  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  most  minute  in- 
quirer into  the  actions  and  opinions  of  the  Genevese 
Reformer.  Its  appearance  in  an  English  dress,  from 
the  pen  of  Dr.  Stebbing,  might  seem  to  supersede 
the  necessity  for  another  work,  on  the  same  subject, 
and,  had  that  gentleman's  book  been  published  earlier, 
the  present  one  would  probably  have  never  been 
undertaken ;  but  the  greater  part  of  it  was  written, 
and  a  considerable  portion  already  in  the  hands  of 
the  publisher,  before  Dr.  Stebbing's  translation  was 
announced. 

There  were  circumstances,  moreover,  which  did 

*  See  P.  Henry,  Lehen  Calvins,  iii.,  Beil.  3. 


PREFACE.  •  vii 

not  discourage  the  author  from  proceeding.  "Without 
entering  into  any  minute  criticism  of  Dr.  Stebbing's 
version,  it  may  at  least  be  said  that  it  does  not  place 
the  original  work  fully  and  fairly  before  the  English 
public ;  the  greater  part  of  the  notes,  and  nearly  all 
the  appendices,  which  form  together  about  a  third 
part  of  it,  being  omitted.  These  contain  letters  and 
other  documents  which  do  not  always  bear  out  the 
statements  in  the  text.  The  original  work  itself, 
too,  seemed  liable  to  some  objections.  The  author 
is  far  from  charging  Dr.  Henry  with  any  intentional 
want  of  candor  ;  for  which  quality,  on  the  contrary, 
considering  that  he  is  so  ardent  an  admirer  of  Cal- 
vin's character,  he  is  remarkable  :  but  the  bias  of  a 
probably  unconscious  prejudice  has  evidently  led  him 
now  and  then  to  keep  some  circumstances  in  the 
background,  and  to  represent  others  in  a  light  not 
entirely  in  accordance  with  the  evidence.  The  form 
of  his  work,  too,  did  not  seem  well  adapted  to  the 
taste  of  an  English  reader  ;  a  remark  which  may, 
perhaps,  be  justified  by  the  fact,  that  Dr.  Henry 
himself  has  thought  it  necessary  to  apologize  for  its 
diffuseness  and  want  of  connection.  ^ 

As  the  nature  and  extent  of  Calvin's  intercourse 
with   the   Anglican   church,    and   with   the   Marian 
*  See  the  Prefaces  to  his  second  and  third  volumes. 


viii       ♦  PREFACE. 

exiles,  can  not  but  be  of  interest  to  an  English 
reader,  considerable  attention  has  been  devoted  to 
this  part  of  the  subject ;  on  which  the  author  ventures 
to  hope  that  more  information  will  be  found  than  is 
contained  in  Dr.  Henry's  work,  or  in  any  other  bio- 
graphy of  Calvin. 

London,  1849. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


[ntroduction — Calvin's  Birth  and  Childhood — His  Education — Conversion 
to  Protestantism — State  of  Religion  in  France — The  Sorhonne — Alarm 
inspired  by  the  Reformation — Persecutions — Margaret  de  Valois— The 
Reuchlinists  and  Erasmus — Calvin's  first  Essays  as  a  Reformer — Flight 
from  Paris — Retui-ns  to  meet  Servetus — The  Placards — Calvin  flies  to 
Basle — First  Edition  of  the  "  Institutes" — Visits  Ferrara — His  Arrival  at 
Geneva -T.-_ 13 


CHAPTER  11. 

Some  Account  of  Geneva — Farel's  Arrival  there — Sketch  of  Farel's  Life — 
His  Labors  at  Geneva  and  Expulsion  from  that  City — Froment  succeeds 
him — Disturbances — Return  of  the  Bishop — Guy  Furbity — Dissolution  of 
the  Monasteries — Reformation  established — Genevese  Constitution — 
Calvin  joins  Farel — Disputation  of  Lausanne — Anabaptists — Caroli — Ac- 
cuses Calvin  of  Arianism — Caroii's  Banishment  and  Apostasy — Calvin 
and  Farel's  Orthodoxy  suspected — Their  Scheme  of  Discipline — Manners 
of  the  Genevese — They  revolt  against  the  discipline — French  Intrigues 
— Synod  of  Lausanne — Inflexibility  of  Farel  and  Calvin — Their  Banish- 
ment from  Geneva — They  appeal  to  the  Synod  of  Zurich — Berne  inter- 
cedes for  them 43 


CHAPTER  III. 

Calvin  proceeds  to  Basle — Accepts  a  Ministry  at  Strasburgh — Writes  to 
the  Church  of  Geneva — Attends  a  Diet  at  Frankfort— His  pecuniary  Difii- 
culties — His  Marriage — Literary  Labors  at  Strasburgh — Caroli  again — 
Diets  of  Hagenau  and  Worms — Diet  of  Ratisbon — State  of  Parties  at 
Geneva — The  new  Pastors  despised — Disorders — Negotiations  for  Cal- 
vin's Restoration — He  reluctantly  returns  to  Geneva 84 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Calvin  visits  Neufchatel — His  Reception  at  Geneva — State  of  the  Church 
there — Farel  invited — Calvin's  Ecclesiastical  Polity — Church  and  State 
— The  Con^story — Service  of  the  Church — Presbyteri^ism — Calvin's 
Idea  of  the'Priesthood— Method  of  upholding  it— Practical  Discipline — His 
Scheme  not  perfected — Calvin's  Civil  Legislation — Rigor  of  his  Laws  111 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Plague  and  Famine  at  Geneva — Calvin  answers  the  Sorbonne — Replies  to 
Pighius — Melancthon's  Opinions  on  Free  Will — Calvin's  Tract  on  Relics 
— Farel  at  Metz — Caroli's  Machinations — Sebastian  Castellio — Calvin's 
Tract  "De  Reforqj|Lnda  Ecclesia" — His  remarks  on  the  Pope's  Letter  to 
the  Emperor — Tracts  against  the  Anabaptists  and  Libertines — The  dueen 
of  Navarre  offended — Luther  and  the  Swiss  Church — Calvin's  Opinion  of 
Luther — Luther's  Violence — Calvin's  Tracts  against  the  Nicodemites  135 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Another  Pestilence — Conspiracy  to  spread  the  Plague — Persecution  of  the 
Waldenses — The  Libertines,  or  Patriots — Number  and  Privileges  of  the 
Refugees — Case  of  Pierre  Ameaux — Calvin's  Despotism — Priestcraft — 
Struggles  with  the  Libertines — Ami  Perrin — Calvin  menaced — Affair  of 
Gruet — Perrin  imprisoned — Disturbances — Perrin  disgraced — Attempts 
at  Accommodation — Calvin  embroiled  with  the  Council — Perrin  restored 
and  elected  Syndic 165 

CHAPTER  Vn. 

Work  against  the  Council  of  Trent — Tract  against  judicial  Astrology — The 
Interim — Melancthon's  Concessions — Calvin  blames  Melancthon — Death 
of  Calvin's  Wife — Beza's  Arrival  at  Geneva — The  Zurich  Consensus — 
Laelius  Socinus — Fetes  abolished  at  Geneva — Calvin's  Tract  De  Scan- 
dalis 194 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

St.  Augustin  and  Pelagius — Predestination — Case  of  Bolsec — Calvin's  Ac- 
count of  hisTenets — Bolsec  indicted — The  Swiss  Churches  consulted 
— Bolsec's  Ci!e  in  danger — Bullinger's  Advice  to  Calvin — Letter  of  the 
Bernese  Ministers — M.  de  Fallals  patronizes  Bolsec — Calvin's  Tract 
on  Predestination — Calvin  and  the  English  Church — Affair  of  Dr,  Hooper 
— Cranmer's  Principles  and  Projects  of  Union — Calvin's  Letter  to  him — 
Misconceives  Cranmer's  Situation 217 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Account  of  Servetus — His  Book  against  the  Trinity — His  Medical  Studies 
— Settles  at  Vienne — His  Correspondence  with  Calvin — Broken  off  by 
the  latter — Publishes  his  "Restoration  of  Christianity"  —  Is  denounced 
by  Trie,  and  apprehended  at  Vienne — Calvin  furnishes  Evidence  against 
him — Further  Proceedings^^ Examination  at  Vienne — Escapes  from 
Prison,  and  is  burned  in  EflBgy 249 

CHAPTER  X. 

Servetus  arrives  at  Geneva — Is  arrested  and  indicted — His  Trial — Is 
claimed  by  the  French  Authorities — His  Insolence — Opinions  of  BuUin- 
ger,  Farel,  and  others,  on  his  Case — Brings  a  counter- Accusation  against 
Calvin — The  Swiss  Churches  consulted — Their  Replies — Servetus  con- 
demned and  executed — His  Character — General  Indignation  against  Cal- 
vin— Calvin's  Book  on  the  Punishment  of  Heretics — Grounds  of  his  De- 
fense— Justified  by  Melancthon  and  others — Calvin  and  the  French 
Inquisition — Inquiry  into  his  Motives — His  Defense  unsatisfactory — 
^plies  to  his  Book 273 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Affair  of  Berthelier — Calvin  refuses  to  administer  the  Lord's  Supper — 
duestion  of  Excommunication — Truce  with  the  Libertines — Libel  upon 
Calvin — His  Unpopularity — Disputes  with  the  Bernese  Clergy — Calvin 
visits  Berne — Banishment  of  Bolsec — Further  Struggles  with  the  Liber- 
tines— The  Consistory's  power  of  Excommunication  confirmed — dues- 
tion of  Citizenship — Riots — The  Libertines  discomfited — Sentence  upon 
them 306 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Controversy  with  the  Lutherans — Attacks  of  Westphal — Calvin  answers 
him — Calvin's  Violence — Urges  Melancthon  to  declare  himself— Mission 
of  Farel  and  Beza — Their  Disingenuousness — BuUinger  Offended — The 
Marian  Exiles — "  Troubles  of  Frankfort" — Lutheran  Persecutions — Cal- 
vin visits  Frankfort — Return  of  the  Marian  Exiles 332 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Revival  of  the  Predestinarian  Controversy — Calvin's  Treatment  of  Castel- 
lio — Italian  Antitrinitarians  —  Gribaldo — B  iandrata — Alciati — Gentile  — 
Schools  founded  at  Geneva — Dissensions  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud — Viret  and 
others  banished — Farel's  intemperate  Zeal — Viret,  Beza,  and  others, 
repair  to  Geneva — Farel's  Marriage — Calvin's  Illness — His  Intercourse 
with  England — Correspondence  with  Knox 363 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

State  of  Religion  in  France — Persecution  of  the  Protestants — Conspiracy 
of  Amboise — Progress  of  Calvinism  in  France — Danger  and  Escape  of 
Conde — Demand  for  Genevese  Preachers — The  Triumvirate — Conference 
of  Poissy — The  Clueen  favors  the  Huguenots — They  preach  in  public — 
Edict  of  January — Apostasy  of  King  Anthony — Massacre  of  Vassy — 
Beza  remonstrates — Religious  Wars — Battle  of  Dreux — Assassination 
of  Guise — Peace  of  Orleans 389 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Controversy  with  Baudouin  —  Tract  against  De  Saconay — Answer  to 
Hesshus — Calvin's  last  Illness — Interview  with  the  Council — Exhorta- 
tion to  the  Ministers — His  Death — Will — Beza's  Character  of  Calvin — 
Another  Estimate — His  Literary  Merits — Conclusion 419 

Appendix 442 


LIFE 


OP 


JOHN     CALYIN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Introduction — Calvin's  Birth  and  Childhood — His  Education — Conversion 
to  Protestantism — State  of  Religion  in  France — The  Sorhonne — Alarm 
inspired  by  the  Reformation — Persecutions — Margaret  de  Valois — The 
Reuchlinists  and  Erasmus — Calvin's  first  Essays  as  a  Reformer — Flight 
from  Paris — Returns  to  meet  Servetus — The  Placards — Calvin  flies  to 
Basle — First  Edition  of  the  "  Institutes" — Visits  Ferrara — His  Arrival  at 
Geneva. 

The  great  and  manifold  blessings  attending  the  Reforma- 
tion were  not  unalloyed  with  serious  evils,  the  chief  of  which 
were  the  dissensions  that  arose  among:  the  Reformers  them- 
selves. The  pretended  infallibility  of  the  ftomish  Church 
had,  at  least,  secured  unity.  The  right  of  private  judgment, 
the  active  principle  of  the  Reformation,  was  a  standard  that 
necessarily  varied  according  to  the  temper,  the  understanding, 
or  the  knowledge  of  different  men  ;  and  hence  arose  a  variety 
of  sects,  of  some  of  which  the  tenets  were  dangerous  alike  to 
civil  government,  and  to  those  principles  of  morality  and  order 
which  are  the  foundation  of  society.  But  of  these  unwhole- 
some products  of  the  Reformation,  some  were  too  extravagant 
and  fanatical,  others  too  cold  and  speculative,  to  establish  a 
durable  or  extensive  empire  over  the  hearts  and  understand- 
ings of  mankind.  The  greater  part  of  them  either  withered 
shortly  after  their  birth,  or  obtained  only  a  scanty  number  of 
followers.  The  chief  harm  that  followed  from  them  was,  that 
they  threw  discredit  upon  the  Reformation;  furnished  the 
Papists  with  their  stock  argument  against  it ;  and  produced 
distrust  and  intolerance  among  the  Protestants  themselves. 

The  same  principle  that  produced  these  excrescences,  though 
not  pushed  to  such  extravagant  results,  ultimately  divided  the 


>ii 


14  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Protestant  Church  into  the  three  main  denominations  of  Ln 
therans,  Anglicans,  and  Calvinists.  It  was,  indeed,  impossi- 
ble that  the  spirit  of  the  Reformation  should  be  bounded  by 
the  views  of  Luther.  Notwithstanding  his  personal  boldness, 
in  matters  of  doctrine  and  discipHne  Luther  was  a  timid  and 
cautious  innovator.  Several  years  after  1517,  when  he  first 
began  to  preach  against  indulgences,  we  find  him  still  toler- 
ating the  invocation  of  saints,  and  addressing  his  prayers  to 
the  Virgin  Mary.^  The  establishment  of  his  doctrine  of  justi- 
fication seems  to  have  been  at  first  his  only  object.  Step  by 
step  he  was  led  to  further  reforms ;  but  at  the  outset  of  his 
career,  he  appears  to  have  formed  no  clear  and  definite  notion 
of  the  extent  to  which  he  should  push  them  ;  and  in  one  im- 
portant article,  that  of  the  local  presence  in  the  eucharist, 
though  he  slightly  modified  the  Romish  doctrine,  he  never,  as 
is  well  known,  entirely  departed  from  it. 

Before  Luther  began  his  career,  another  Reformer  had 
already  started  up  in  Switzerland,  possessing  bolder  views, 
and  a  more  philosophical  method.  Zwingli  began  by  laying 
down  the  abstract  general  principle  that  the  Scriptures  con- 
tain the  sole  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and  that  whatsoever 
is  not  found  in  them  is  either  false  or  superfluous.  "When  his 
auditors  were  become  familiar  with  this  doctrine,  it  was  easy 
for  him  to  proceed  to  its  legitimate  consequences,  and  to  prove 
the  fallacy  of  the  mass,  of  the  invocation  of  saints,  of  the  wor- 
ship of  images,  and  of  the  other  countless  abuses  of  Popery.* 

The  rejection,  however,  of  the  grand  Romish  dogma  of  the 
Real  Presence  was  first  publicly  advocated  by  one  of  Luther's 
own  followers.  That  dogma  had,  indeed,  been  questioned  in 
private  circles  before  Carlostadt  began  to  preach  against  it  f 
but  Zwingli  himself  had  not  yet  ventured  to  impugn  it  openly. 
Carlostadt's  conference  on  this  subject  with  Luther,  at  the 
Black  Bear  at  Jena,  only  served  to  inflame  the  controversy 
between  them  ;  and  the  former  found  it  expedient  to  retire  to 
Strasburgh,  and  thence  to  Basle,  where  he  pubhshed  some 
books  in  defense  of  his  opinion."*  These  were  at  first  pro- 
scribed :  but  Zwingli,  though  differing  from  Carlostadt  as  to 
the  sense  to  be  affixed  to  the  words  of  the  institution  of  the 

1  Gerdesitis,  i.,  129. 

2  On  the  different  characters  of  Luther  and  Zwingli  as  Bieformers,  see 
Gryncei  Ep.,  apud  Gerdes.,  i.,  121. 

3  Pellicanus  nad  expressed  his  disbelief  in  Transubstantiation  in  a  con- 
versation with  Capito,  in  1512  (Gerdesius,  i.,  112).  Indeed,  the  doctrine  had, 
probably,  always  had  some  questioners. 

4  Scultetus,  apud  V.  der  Hardt,  p.  71.   M.  Adamus,  Vita  Carlostadii,  p.  84. 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

Lord's  Supper,  warmly  espoused  his  main  view,  advocated  it 
in  several  treatises,  and  made  it  an  article  of  faith  in  the 
church  which  he  had  founded  at  Zurich.  Hence  the  Protest- 
ants were  early  divided  into  two  great  parties,  which  regarded 
each  other  with  an  hostility  even  more  bitter  than  that  which 
they  mutually  bore  to  the  Romish  Church.  The  followers 
of  Zwingli  called  themselves  the  Reformed  Church  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  Lutherans  ;  while  the  latter,  as  well  as  the 
Roman  Catholics,  branded  the  Zwinglians  with  the  name  of 
Sacrametaries. 

Out  of  these  two  Churches  were  developed  the  Anglican 
and  the  Calvinistic  :  the  former,  under  the  auspices  of  Cran- 
mer,  at  length  inclining  toward  the  tenets  of  Zwingli,  but 
without  adopting  his  ascetic  discipline.  Calvin,  on  the  other 
hand,  pushing  both  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  Zwingli, 
though  with  some  modifications  of  his  own,  to  a  rigid  ex- 
treme, succeeded,  nevertheless,  in  incorporating  the  Zwinglian 
Church  with  his  own  by  the  Zurich  "  Consensus.''  Finally, 
we  find  his  system,  which  he  had  built  up  with  much  learn- 
ing, and  great  power  of  logic,  and  pushed  with  indomitable 
energy,  prevailing  not  only  at  Geneva,  and  among  that  part 
of  the  French  people  which  had  embraced  the  Reformation, 
but  also  in  Scotland  and  Holland. 

Hence,  though  Calvin's  title  to  be  regarded  as  an  original 
Reformer  is  eclipsed,  in  point  of  priority,  as  well  as  in  some 
other  particulars,  by  those  of  Luther  and  Zwingli,  yet  a  suc- 
cess so  extensive  gives  to  his  history  a  claim  upon  our  atten- 
tion scarcely  smaller  than  theirs.  His  life  does  not,  indeed, 
ofier  such  striking  passages  of  personal  adventure.  His  part 
was  not  acted  on  so  large  and  conspicuous  a  theater  as  Lu- 
ther's was,  nor  does  it  present  us  with  that  boldness  of  action 
which  distinguished  Zwingli,  as  well  as  that  Reformer.  Cal-  ■ 
vin's  influence  flowed  mainly  from  his  literary  abilities,  and 
much  of  his  biography  necessarily  relates  to  those  works,  the 
composition  of  which  occupied  so  great  a  portion  of  his  life. 
The  vicissitudes  of  personal  fortune  form,  however,  but  a  minor 
subject  of  contemplation  in  the  history  of  those  destined  to 
mold  the  opinions  and  principles  of  men.  Yet  even  in  these 
the  life  of  Calvin  is  not  wholly  deficient ;  and  if  it  be  viewed 
with  regard  to  the  consistent  and  successful  pursuit  of  one 
great  object,  it  may,  in  the  interest  thence  resulting,  safely 
challenge  a  comparison  with  that  of  any  other  Reformer.  To 
attempt  the  development  of  this,  with  all  due  impartiality, 
forms  the  object  of  the  following  narrative. 


16  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN 

John  Calvin  was  bom  at  Noyon,  in  Picardy,  on  the  10  th 
of  July,  1509.  His  father,  Gerard  Cauvin,  or  Caulvin,  for 
the  name  ol  Calvin  was  assumed  from  the  Latin  form,  Cal- 
vinus,  was  a  notary  in  the  ecclesiastical  court  of  Noyon,  and 
secretary  to  the  bishop.  His  grandfather  is  said  to  have  been 
a  cooper  at  Pont  I'Eveque,  a  village  near  that  city.  Gerard 
married  Jeanne  Le  Franc,  a  native  of  Cambray,  by  whom  he 
had  six  children ;  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  The  eldest 
son,  Charles,  was  an  ecclesiastic,  and  chaplain  of  St.  Mary's 
Church  at  Noyon.  He  died,  however,  under  the  suspicion  of 
heresy,  from  having  refused  to  receive  the  sacrament  in  his 
last  moments  ;  for  which  reason  he  was  buried  under  the  pub- 
lic gibbet ;  though,  to  avoid  the  scandal  of  such  a  scene,  it 
was  performed  in  the  night-time.  The  second  son  was  the 
great  Reformer,  the  subject  of  this  biography.  The  third  son, 
Anthony,  was  also  bred  up  to  the  clerical  profession,  and  ob- 
tained the  chaplaincy  of  Tourneville,  in  the  village  of  Trav- 
ersy ;  but  subsequently  embraced  the  Reformed  tenets,  and 
followed  Calvin  to  Geneva.  The  fourth  son  died  in  childhood. 
Of  the  two  daughters,  one,  Maria  or  Mary,  also  accompanied 
Calvin  to  Geneva ;  the  other  appears  to  have  continued  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  and  to  have  remained  at  Noyon ; 
where  she  married  and  left  a  son,  who  followed  the  trade  of  a 
cutler.^ 

It  is  a  striking  fact,  as  illustrating  the  rapid  progress  which 
the  Reformation  was  at  that  time  making  in  France,  that 
three  sons  of  the  same  family,  all  enjoying  the  prospect  of  a 
competency  from  benefices  in  the  Romish  Church,  should 
nevertheless  have  deserted  that  communion,  and  embraced 
the  Reformed  tenets.  Both  their  father  and  mother,  however, 
remained  unshaken,  and  died  in  the  Roman  Catholic  faith. 
Gerard  is  said  to  have  been  a  man  of  sense  and  probity,  and 
much  esteemed  by  the  higher  classes.  The  chief  feature  in 
the  character  of  Calvin's  mother,  was  a  piety  bordering  on 
asceticism  ;  and  as  the  maternal  temperament  is  frequently 
observed  to  descend  to  the  offspring,  it  was  from  her,  probably, 
that  Calvin  inherited  those  religious  feelings  which  marked 
even  his  early  years. 

Of  Calvin's  childhood  we  possess  but  few  particulars  ;  nor 
is  this,  perhaps,  much  to  be  lamented.  That  period  of  life 
may,  indeed,  supply  hints  for  conjecture  and  inference  as  to 
the  development  of  the  future  character  ;  and  some  materials 

1  Drelincoui't,  Defense  de  Calvin,  p.  33-36,  193,  234,  &c.    Beza,  Vita 

Calvini. 


HIS  EDUCATION.  17 

of  this  sort  we  possess  in  what  is  known  of  Calvin's  boyhood. 
Unlike  his  brother  Reformers  of  Switzerland  and  Germany, 
whose  early  years  were,  for  the  most  part,  spent  in  penury 
and  hardships,'  Calvin  was  brought  up  with  tenderness  and 
care.  He  received  the  first  rudiments  of  his  education  at  the 
College  des  Capettes,  in  his  native  town ;  and  in  his  studies 
he  was  associated  with  the  children  of  the  noble  family  of 
Mommor,  the  most  distinguished  in  the  district,  and  received 
equally  with  them,  though  at  his  father's  expense,  all  those 
accessory  facilities  and  advantages  to  which  their  rank  entitled 
them.^  To  this  method  of  education  it  may,  perhaps,  be 
owing  that  we  miss  in  Calvin's  character  that  boldness  of 
outline  which  marked  most  of  the  Swiss  and  German  Reform- 
ers ;  and  to  the  same  source  we  may  also  ascribe  that  aristo- 
cratic tendency  perceptible  in  his  after-life.  Beza  tells  us  that 
he  surpassed  all  his  schoolfellows  in  acuteness  of  mind  and 
strength  of  memory  ;  and  even  then  gave  token  of  his  future 
character,  by  setting  himself  up  as  the  censor  of  his  young  com- 
panions. In  1523,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  proceeded  to  the 
High  School  of  Paris,^  still  accompanied  by  the  children  of  the 
Mommor  family.  Here  he  studied  under  Mathurin  Cordier, 
regent  of  the  College  de  la  Marche,  so  well  known  by  the 
name  of  Corderius,  and  by  his  "  Colloquies,"  still  used  to  in- 
itiate youths  in  the  Latin  tongue.  It  was  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  this  renowned  master  that  Calvin  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  that  pure  and  vigorous  Latin  style  in  which,  even  in 
that  learned  age,  he  excelled  most  of  his  contemporaries.  The 
relation  of  master  and  pupil  was,  however,  afterward  reversed. 
In  matters  of  religion  Corderius  did  not  disdain  to  take  a  les- 
son from  his  scholar  ;  and  renouncing  the  Romish  faith,  settled 
at  Geneva,  where  he  died,  the  same  year  as  Calvin,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-four.  From  this  school  Calvin  removed  to  the 
College  Montaigu,  where  he  made  rapid  progress  under  the 
tuition  of  a  learned  Spaniard. 

Calvin's  father  had  originally  destined  him  for  the  Church. 
With  this  view  he  had  procured  for  his  son  the  chaplaincy  of 
la  Gesme,  in  the  cathedral  church  of  Noyon,  before  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  twelve  ;  and,  shortly  after  he  had  com- 
pleted his  eighteenth  year  (September,  1527),  he  obtained  for 
him  the  living  of  Marteville,  though  Calvin  was  not  properly 

'  In  the  former  country  especially,  parents  were  accustomed  at  that  time 
to  make  their  children  depend  on  their  own  efforts  for  their  education  and 
maintenance.  See  Melchior  Adamus,  Vita  Bullingeri,  p.  477,  and  the  Au- 
tobiography, of  Thomas  Platter.    A  hazardous  experiment ! 

2  Beza,  Vie  de  Calvin^  p.  10.  3  Drelincourt,  p.  IGO. 


18  --F:  life  of  JOHN  CALVIN. 

qualified  to  hold  it ;  for,  although  he  had  received  the  tonsure, 
he  had  not  been  admitted  into  holy  orders.^  But  the  extra- 
ordinary abilities  which  he  had  already  displayed,  seemed  to 
qualify  him  for  a  more  active  and  enterprising  life  than  that 
of  an  ecclesiastic.  Though  the  profession  of  medicine  offered 
at  that  time  the  surest  resource  against  poverty,  that  of  the 
law  opened  the  brightest  prospects  to  wealth  and  honor  com- 
bined ;  and  Calvin's  father  made  him  renounce  the  study  of 
theology  for  that  of  jurisprudence.^  This  change  did  not,  how- 
ever, lead  him  to  abandon  the  ecclesiastical  preferment  which 
he  had  obtained,  though  the  registers  of  Noyon  contain  fre- 
quent complaints  of  Calvin's  absence  from  his  duties.'^  On 
the  contrary,  we  find  him  exchanging,  in  1529,  the  living  of 
Marteville  for  that  of  Pont  I'Eveque,  where  he  seems  occa- 
sionally to  have  preached.  These  preferments,  the  last  of 
which  Calvin  obtained  through  the  Abbot  of  St.  Eloi,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Mommor  family,  afford  strong  proof  of  the  lax  dis- 
cipline at  that  time  prevailing  in  the  Romish  Church,  and  of 
the  necessity  for  the  Reformation  then  in  progress. 

In  compliance  with  his  father's  wishes,  Calvin  repaired  to 
the  University  of  Orleans  to  study  jurisprudence  under  Pierre 
de  I'Etoile  (Petrus  Stella),  afterward  president  of  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Paris,  and  reputed  the  acutest  lawyer  in  France.'* 
Beza  gives  us  a  few  particulars  of  Calvin's  way  of  life  here, 
which  he  had  learned  from  some  of  his  fellow-collegians.  It 
was  characterized  by  the  most  temperate  habits,  and  the  great- 
est devotion  to  learning.  After  a  moderate  supper,  he  would 
spend  half  the  night  in  study,  and  in  the  morning  lie  abed  to 
reflect  upon  what  he  had  read.  It  was  thus  that  he  acquired 
his  vast  stores  of  knowledge,  but  at  the  same  time  laid  the 
foundation  of  those  disorders  which  embittered  his  future  life. 
Such  was  his  reputation  for  learning,  that,  in  the  absence  of 
the  professors,  he  was  frequently  called  upon  to  supply  their 
place  ;  and  when  he  left  Orleans  the  degree  of  doctor  was  by 
unanimous  consent  offered  to  him  without  the  usual  fees  :  an 
honor,  however,  which  Calvin  declined  to  accept.^  But  one 
of  the  strongest  proofs  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  his  abili- 
ties were  held  even  at  this  early  period  is,  that  his  judgment 
was  requested  on  the  subject  of  Henry  the  Eighth's  divorce, 
when,  in  1530,  that  question  was  proposed  to  the  universities 

1  Drelincourt,  p.  11,  ]62.    Bayle,  Calvin. 

2  See  Calvin's  Prmfatio  in  Psalmos. 

3  See  Des  May,  apud  Drelincourt,  p.  161,  170. 

4  Hist,  des  Eglises  Ref.,  i.,  9.         *  Beza,  Vita  Calv. 


CONVERSION  TO  PROTESTANTISM.  19 

and  learned  men  of  Europe.  Calvin  took  a  different  view  of 
it  from  Erasmus,  and  pronounced  against  the  lawfulness  of 
marriage  with  a  brother's  widow.  His  opinion  is  still  extant,  it 
having  been  published  inBeza's  selection  of  his  correspondence.^ 
But  though  the  study  of  the  law  was  Calvin's  ostensible 
pursuit  at  Orleans,  the  greater  part  of  his  time  was  still  de- 

1  voted  to  theology.  He  had  already  begun  to  feel  an  inclina- 
tion for  the  tenets  of  the  iTeformB'rs,  which  he  is  said  to  have 
derived  from  a  relative,  Pierre  Robert  Olivetan,  afterward 
known  by  his  French  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  to  the 
study  of  which  he  exhorted  Calvin.^  He  was  also  encour- 
aged in  these  sentiments  by  a  friendship  which  he  had  formed 
with  Francois  Daniel,  an  advocate,  and  Nicholas  du  Chemin, 
a  schoolmaster  at  Orleans,  who  had  adopted  the  new  learning. 

How  long  Calvin  remained  at  Orleans  can  not  be  ascer- 
tained. He  left  that  city  to  complete  his  legal  studies  at  the 
University  of  Bourges,  the  most  renowned  school  in  France 
for  that  branch  of  science,  where  it  was  taught  by  Andre 
Alciat,  a  famous  Italian  jurisconsult.^  Calvin  himself  tells 
us  that  he  devoted  considerable  attention  to  this  study  ;*  and 
the  progress  which  he  made  in  it  must  have  proved  very  serv- 
iceable to  him  in  after-life,  when  called  upon  to  assume  the 
part  of  lawgiver  in  the  little  republic  of  Geneva.  But 
whether  it  tended  to  improve  him  as  a  theologian  may  be 
doubted  ;  and  to  this  source,  probably,  may  be  traced  that 
fondness  for  system  and  logical  demonstration  which  can  not 
always  be  successfully  applied  to  religion,  and  which  is  too 
apt  to  beget  a  spirit  of  bigotry  and  intolerance.  It  was  at 
Bourges  that  he  began  to  acquire  his  knowledge  of  Greek,  at 
the  instance  and  with  the  help  of  Melchior  Wolmar,  a  learned 
German,  then  Greek  professor  at  that  university.  Calvin  has 
recorded  his  gratitude  for  the  benefit  which  he  derived  from 
Wolmar's  instructions  in  the  dedication  to  him  of  his  Com- 
mentary on  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 

By  Wolmar,  Calvin  seems  also  to  have  been  confirmed  in 
his  inclination  toward  Protestantism,  which  now  began  to 
show  itself  openly.  Calvin  represents  himself  in  his  earlier 
years  as  a  pertinacious  and  devoted  bigot  to  the  superstitions 
of  Popery,  and  as  having  been  converted  by  a  sudden  call, 
like  the  new  birth  of  the  Methodists.^  In  the  course  of  this 
narrative  there  will  be  occasion  to  relate  other  instances  of 
the  unexpected  intervention  of  Providence  in  Calvin's  spiritual 

^  See  Ep.  384,  Lausanne  ed.  2  Beza,  Vita  Calv. 

3  Maimbourg,  Hist,  du  Calvinisme,  p.  53.     *  Prcsf.  in  Psalmos.     s  Jb- 


J?0  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

career.  But  though  the  final  impulse  which  drove  him  to 
overleap  the  pale  of  the  Romish  Church  may  have  been  sud- 
den and  abrupt,  it  seems  probable  that,  in  a  man  of  his  stu- 
dious and  reflective  habits,  so  marked  a  transition  must  have 
been  some  time  preparing.  Be  this  as  it  may,  Calvin  novi^ 
began  openly  to  preach  the  Reformed  doctrines,  not  only  at 
Bourges  but  in  the  neighboring  villages,  and  especially  at 
Lign^res,  where  he  was  encouraged  by  the  Seigneur  and 
lady  of  the  place. ^  We  learn  from  his  Preface  to  the  Psalms, 
that  before  a  year  had  elapsed,  all  who  were  desirous  of  know- 
ing the  pure  doctrines  of  the  Reformation  came  to  him  for  in- 
struction, though  himself  but  a  beginner,  and  in  spite  of  his 
shy  and  retiring  habits,  which  but  little  qualified  him  for  a 
public  teacher.  It  was  during  his  residence  at  Bourges,  and 
probably  in  the  year  1532,  that  Calvin  lost  his  father.^  This 
event  having  made  him  his  own  master,  he  abandoned  the  study 
of  the  law,  took  up  his  residence  at  Paris,  and  devoted  himself 
wholly  to  theology,  with  the  view  of  becoming  a  minister. 

At  this  period  France  presented  a  more  remarkable  picture 
than  any  other  country  of  the  struggle  between  ancient  big- 
otry and  prejudice,  and  the  new  ideas  excited  by  the  Reform- 
ation. At  one  time  that  nation  seemed  destined  to  lead  the 
van  of  Europe  against  the  papal  power.  Almost  a  century 
before  the  appearance  of  Luther,  Gerson,  one  of  the  greatest 
ornaments  of  the  University  of  Paris,  had  persuaded  that  body 
to  adopt  his  opinion,  that  the  Pope  was  subordinate  to  a  gen- 
eral council.^  In  1510  we  find  Louis  XII.  practically  carry- 
ing out  this  decision,  by  assembling  the  French  prelates  at 
Tours,  citing  the  Pope,  Julius  II.,  to  appear  there,  and  de^ 
daring  the  right  of  making  war  upon  him.  In  the  following 
year,  Louis,  having  joined  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  and 
gained  over  a  few  cardinals,  appointed  a  general  council  to  be 
held  at  Pisa,  for  the  reformation  of  the  Church,  both  in  its 
head  and  members.  To  defeat  this,  Julius,  in  1512,  assem- 
bled the  Council  of  the  Lateran,  continued  by  his  successor 
Leo  X.,  which  declared  the  Pope  to  be  superior  to  a  council.* 
In  token  of  his  unquenchable  hatred  toward  Rome,  Louis 

1  Hist,  des  Eglises  Ref.,  i.,  10, 

a  This  occurrence  has  sometimes  heen  placed  in  1528,  and  there  is  indeed 
extant  a  letter  of  Calvin's  to  N.  du  Chemin,  dated  on  the  6th  of  May  in  that 
year,  in  which  he  states  that  his  father  was  so  ill,  that  his  recovery  was  im- 
possible (P.  Henry,  i.,  36).  But  Beza  tells  us  that  Calvin  was  about  twenty- 
three  when  his  father  died,  which  would  be  in  the  year  1532 ;  and  as  he 
calls  it  a  sudden  death  {repentina  mors),  it  seems  probable  that  Gerard  re- 
covered from  the  dangerous  sickness  alluded  to. 

3  Sleidan,  i.,  9.  *  Gerdesius,  iv.,  $  1,  2. 


STATE  OF  RELIGION  IN  FRANCE.  21 

had  even  caused  money  to  be  coined,  bearing  the  inscription, 
'^  Per  dam  Babylonis  nomenP  Had  that  monarch  lived  to 
see  the  beginning  of  Luther's  Reformation,  it  seems  not  im- 
probable that  religion  might  have  experienced  a  different  fate 
in  France.  The  influence  of  the  sovereign  in  determining  the 
creed  of  his  subjects  is  a  fact  that  must  have  struck  most 
readers  of  the  history  of  those  times.  The  common  observa- 
tion respecting  the  impolicy  of  persecution,  and  its  unfitness  to 
attain  its  ends,  is  one  of  those  which  ^q  rather  wish  to  be  true, 
than  in  the  majority  of  instances  can  prove  to  be  so.  In  Italy 
and  Spain  the  government  succeeded  in  nipping  the  Reform- 
ation in  the  bud.  In  Germany  the  far  greater  part  of  the 
Emperor  Charles's  dominions  retained  the  faith  of  their  big- 
oted master.  Even  in  Saxony  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
Luther  would  have  succeeded  in  carrying  out  his  views  with- 
out the  assistance  of  the  elector.  In  our  own  country  it  is 
highly  probable  that  there  would  have  been  no  Reformation, 
or,  at  all  events,  not  till  many  years  later,  if  it  had  not  orig- 
inated with  the  monarch  ;  and  a  strong  proof  of  this  are  the 
three  changes,  which,  at  the  beck  of  its  government,  the  nation 
made  in  its  religion  in  about  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Holland 
and  Scotland  may  be  named  as  exceptions  to  this  general  re- 
mark ;  in  which  countries  the  people  succeeded  in  establishing 
their  creed  by  successful  rebellions :  and  it  is  a  remarkable 
fact  that,  in  both  instances,  that  creed  was  the  Calvinistic. 
The  circumstance  of  there  being  but  little  public  opinion  in 
those  days,  and  few  or  no  organs  to  express  it,  may  be  the 
most  probable  way  of  accounting  for  these  facts.  Yet  the 
religion  of  the  principal  European  states  has  remained  the 
same  as  was  established  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  great 
tide  of  rehgious  opinion  has  subsequently  ceased  to  flow,  and 
its  inroads  were  confined  to  that  epoch.  France  presents  a 
striking  illustration  of  the  preceding  observations.  At  first 
its  leading  men  hesitated  and  differed  on  the  subject  of  religion, 
and  the  result  was  a  bloody  civil  war.  At  length  its  kings 
and  rulers  pronounced  for  Romanism,  which  remains  the  es- 
tablished religion  to  this  day. 

In  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  the  conduct  of  Louis's  suc- 
cessor, Francis  I.,  was  not  calculated  to  damp  the  hopes  of 
the  Reformers.  It  may  be  true,  as  an  eminent  historian  has 
observed,  that  Francis  cared  little  for  theological  controversies, 
and  that  his  concessions  to  the  Reformers  were  rather  the  arts 
of  policy  than  the  results  of  conviction.^  Nevertheless,  this 
1  Robertson,  Charles  the  Fifth,  b.  vi. 


22  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

indifference,  and  this  policy,  were  not  without  their  effect  in 
assisting  the  Reformation :  and  it  is  certain,  at  all  events, 
that  his  contemporaries  interpreted  them  into  an  inclination 
for  the  new  doctrines.^  His  well  known  love  and  patronage 
of  literature  and  the  arts,  the  handmaids  of  the  Reformation, 
assisted  to  produce  the  same  result. 

These  causes  had  led  to  the  partial  adoption  of  Lutheran- 
ism  at  the  French  court.  It  had  become  a  fashion  among 
the  courtiers  to  patronize  the  new  doctrines,  though  in  general 
they  understood  but  little  about  them.^  Even  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris  a  marked  change  had  begun  to  show  itself, 
which  Louis  Vives,  who  paid  it  a  visit  in  1521,  has  described 
in  a  letter  to  Erasmus.  He  represents  the  study  of  poetry  as 
reviving  there,  which  previously  had  been  almost  banished 
from  the  public  schools  ;  and  mentions  that  Paris,  which  had 
been  the  very  citadel  of  the  sophists,  had  begun  to  lay  aside 
the  scholastic  philosophy ;  and  even  the  Sorbonne  itself  to 
eschew  mere  verbal  subtilties  and  quibbles,  and  to  take  to 
the  study  of  solid  and  genuine  theology.^  But  though  the 
general  body  of  the  Parisian  university  had  made  these  ad- 
vances, it  may  be  suspected  that  Vives  had  been  misled  by 
too  hasty  a  glance  with  regard  to  the  Sorbonne.  Among  that 
body  there  were,  it  is  true,  a  few  enlightened  men  who  rose 
superior  to  the  general  mass,  and  it  is  probable  that  Vives 
formed  his  judgment  of  the  whole  from  having  been  fortunate 
enough  to  fall  into  their  company.  Luther  himself  made  the 
same  mistake.  Relying  on  the  liberality  of  that  body,  from 
their  having,  in  1517,  reasserted  the  superiority  of  councils 
over  the  Pope,  Luther  ventured,  in  the  very  year  that  Vives 
wrote  his  letter,  to  appeal  to  the  Sorbonne  on  the  subject  of 
his  dispute  with  Dr.  Eck,  at  Leipsic.  They  answered  him 
by  selecting  a  variety  of  passages  from  his  own  works,  whieh 
they  severely  censured ;  and  by  animadverting  upon  his  pre- 
sumption, as  if  he  alone  knew  the  road  to  salvation  :  an  im- 
pious arrogance  which  they  held  worthier  to  be  coerced  by 

i  Thus  Bucer,  writing  to  Luther  so  late  as  August,  1531,  says  of  Francis : 
"For  the  king  is  not  averse  from  the  true  religion,  and,  now  that  he  has  re- 
covered his  children,  will  not  he  so  dependent  on  the  pope  and  the  empei'or 
in  this  matter." — Gerdesius,  iv.,  73.     Compare  Beza,  Viia  Calv. 

2  This  appears  from  an  answer  given  by  the  Sorbonne,  in  1523,  to  some 
questions  proposed  by  Louisaof  Savoy :  "due  plusieurs  et  grands  person- 
nages,  avant  que  les  choses  fussent  par  eux  bien  entendues,  ont  loue  en 
cour,  comme  on  disait,  icelle  doctrine,  et  disaient  mal  de  tous  ceux  qui  la 
blamoient  et  reprouvoient." — See  Gerdesius,  iv.,  Mon.  3, 

3  The  answer  of  Erasmus,  Ep.  611,  gives  a  rapid  sketch  of  the  state  of 
learning  throughout  Europe. 


THE  SORBONNB.  23 

reproof,  by  imprisonment,  and  even  by  the  flames,  than  to  be 
refuted  by  argument.'  And,  indeed,  if  the  accounts  which 
we  have  of  this  celebrated  body  may  be  relied  on,  the  former 
of  these  two  courses  was  much  the  safer  one  for  them  to  pur- 
sue. We  are  told,  that  when  Luther  first  appeared  there  was 
not  a  man  amdng  them  who  dared  to  meet  him  in  scriptural 
discussion.^  Even  a  lapse  of  nearly  thirty  years  did  not  mend 
matters.  Early  in  1545,  it  was  proposed  that  some  of  the 
German  Reformers  should  go  to  Paris  to  discuss  theology  with 
the  French  doctors.  The  king  assented ;  but  his  librarian, 
Castellan,  put  a  veto  on  the  project,  by  informing  his  master 
that  the  Parisian  theologers  were  no  match  for  those  of  Ger- 
many ;  and  advised  him  not  to  expose  the  whole  kingdom  to 
ridicule,  by  betraying  their  ignorance.'* 

Sleidan  has  left  us  a  picture  of  the  Parisian  theologians  of 
this  period,  taken  from  the  life.  They  claimed,  we  are  told, 
to  be  the  leading  theologers  of  Europe,  and  had  two  principal 
colleges  :  the  Sorbonne,  and  that  of  Navarre.  The  students 
in  this  faculty,  called  haccalaurei,  or  bachelors,  were  exercised 
in  disputation  throughout  the  summer ;  and,  at  their  exami- 
nation, were  bound  to  answer  the  arguments  of  all  comers  for 
twelve  consecutive  hours.  Wonderful  were  the  feats  of  intel- 
lectual gladiatorship  here  displayed  ;  which,  however,  for  the 
most  part  turned  either  on  frivolous  points,  or  on  questions  be- 
yond the  reach  of  the  human  understanding.  These  disputes 
were  conducted  amid  the  greatest  clamor,  and  were  commonly 
terminated  by  the  audience  testifying,  by  their  hootings,  their 
impatience  at  the  want  of  skill,  or  at  the  prolixity,  of  one  or 
other  of  the  disputants.  During  the  progress  of  these  discus- 
sions, the  doctors  in  theology  listened  through  the  lattices. 
These  men,  who  were  honored  with  the  title  of  nos.  maitres 
(magistri  nostri),  were  the  recognized  censors  of  theological 
literature,  over  which  they  ruled  with  despotic  power.  With- 
out their  sanction  nobody  could  publish  a  treatise  relating  to 
divinity.  The  greater  part  of  them,  however,  abandoned 
themselves  to  idleness ;  and  seemed  to  aspire  to  the  degree  of 
doctor  only,  that  they  might  live  in  luxury,  and  domineer  over 

i  Grerdesius,  iv.,  6.    Their  censure  of  Luther  will  be  found  in  Mon.  2. 

2  lb.,  i.,  30. 

3  "  Though  this  advice  pleased  the  king,  Castellan  refused  to  trust  the 
French  theologians  in  a  disputation  with  you,  unless  they  were  well  pre- 
pared and  instructed  beforehand.  For,  said  he,  you  were  men  well  exer- 
cised in  that  sort  of  contention,  and  could  not  be  so  easily  overthrown;  and, 
therefore,  care  should  be  taken,  that  the  king  might  not  expose  the  whole 
nation  to  ridicule  by  betraying  the  ignorance  of  his  divines." — Calvin  to 
Melancthon,  January,  1545,  Ep.  60. 


24  LIB^E  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

others.  Among  them  were,  indeed,  a  few  men  of  excellent 
genius,  but  worthy  of  other  associates  and  a  better  culture.^ 

The  instinct  of  self-preservation  stimulates  bigots  to  oppose 
even  the  most  harmless  reforms.  Incapable,  from  their  con- 
tracted views,  of  estimating  the  results  of  the  slightest  inno- 
vation, and  alarmed  at  a  progress  which  they  are  alike  unable 
to  comprehend  or  to  arrest,  they  cling  to  ancient  prejudices 
with  all  the  tenacity  of  despair.  Amid  the  blaze  of  learn- 
ing which  illuminated  the  sixteenth  century,  we  find  recorded 
against  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne,  instances  of  the  grossest 
ignorance,  and  of  the  most  childish  and  obstinate  prejudices. 
Freigius,  in  his  Life  of  Ramus,  asserts  that  some  of  the  Par- 
isian doctors  were  so  pertinacious  in  maintaining  that  ego 
amat  was  as  good  Latin  as  ego  amo,  that  it  was  necessary  to 
put  them  down  by  a  public  decree.  And  so  late  as  1550,  the 
Sorbonne  were  so  indignant  at  a  richly  beneficed  ecclesiastic 
for  adopting  the  reformed  pronunciation  of  Latin,  as  quisquis, 
quamqieam,  mihi,  &c.,  for  the  old  method,  kiskis,  kankam, 
miki,  that  they  would  have  stripped  him  of  his  preferment, 
had  not  the  royal  professors,  by  whom  these  reforms  were  in- 
troduced, actively  interfered  in  his  behalf  vidth  the  Parliament 
of  Paris.^  Such  facts  would  almost  appear  incredible,  were 
they  not  supported  by  other  instances.  In  our  own  country, 
we  find  Bishop  Gardiner  identifying  a  point  in  philology  with 
a  question  of  religion,  and  persecuting  Cheke  and  the  other 
reformers  of  Greek  pronunciation. 

The  alarm  of  the  Sorbonnists  and  monks  at  the  rapid  dif- 
fusion of  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation  was  extreme.  In 
1521,  a  Carmelite,  preaching  before  the  King  of  France,  pre- 
dicted the  speedy  appearance  of  Anti-Christ,  and  affirmed  that 
four  of  his  precursors  had  already  appeared :  a  certain  Minor- 
ite in  Italy ;  Le  Fevre  d'Etaples  in  France ;  Reuchlin  in 
Germany  ;  and  Erasmus  in  Brabant.^  It  was  even  reported 
that  the  Romish  clergy  employed  poison  against  the  Luther- 
ans, and  thus  silenced  forever  those  whom  they  were  unable 
to  refute.  Erasmus  believed  this  so  thoroughly,  that  the  more 
Aleander,  who  had  a  reputation  in  that  art,  pressed  him  to 
dine  with  him  at  Cologne,  the  more  he  excused  himself  "*     At 

1  Sleidan,  De  Statu,  Sec,  p.  39. 

3  Bayle,  art.,  Ramus,  rem.  G. ;  and  Rabelais,  ii.,  7. 

3  Erasmus,  Ep.  314,  App. 

4  "  Poison,  I  hear,  is  the  method  now.  Some  open  defenders  of  Luther 
have  been  made  away  with  at  Paris.  Perhaps  it  has  been  commanded 
that,  since  the  enemies  of  the  papal  throne — for  such  is  the  designation  of 
those  who  will  not  unreservedly  obey  those  harpies — can  not  be  otherwise 


PERSECUTIONS.  25 

the  head  of  the  bigots  of  the  Sorbonne,  two  men  stood  con- 
spicuously forward  ;  Quercu,  a  Norman,  and  NataHs  Bedda, 
or  Beda.     In  Beda  alone,  said  Erasmus,  are  3000  monks. ^ 

It  was  in  1521,  as  we  have  seen,  that  the  Sorbonne  first 
openly  showed  their  dislike  of  Luther's  doctrines  by  publishing 
a  condemnation  of  them  ;  and  shortly  afterward  they  entered 
the  lists  against  him  by  printing  a  book  called  "  Anti-Luther." 
They  soon,  however,  abandoned  the  field  of  argument  for  the 
more  congenial  method  of  persecution,  which  in  1523  broke 
out  with  open  violence.  In  that  year,  Jean  Le  Clerc,  who 
may  be  considered  as  the  proto-martyr  of  France,  was  arrest- 
ed for  having  affixed  to  the  cathedral  of  Meaux  a  paper  con- 
demning the  Popish  system  of  pardons.  He  was  whipped  and 
branded ;  but  this  did  not  deter  him  from  planting  a  Church  at 
Metz,  which  in  1524  he  watered  with  his  blood. ^  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  one  Jaques  Pavanes  W3.s  burned  on  the  Place  de 
Greve  at  Paris.  But  what  struck  most  terror  into  the  Re- 
formers was  the  execution  of  Louis  Berquin,  a  gentleman  of 
Artois.  Berquin  had  translated  some  of  the  pieces  of  Eras- 
mus into  French,  as  the  "  Praise  of  Marriage,"  the  "  Christian 
Soldier's  Manual,"  and  the  "  Complaint  of  Peace."  Beda, 
who  corresponded  occasionally  with  Erasmus,  sent  him  word 
that  these  translations  would  hurt  his  character.  Erasmus 
replied,  that  he  was  not  responsible  for  the  versions  of  others  ; 
but  at  the  same  time  he  wrote  to  Berquin,  advising  him  to 
abstain  from  contests  with  the  divines,  which  the  heat  of  re- 
ligious controversy  rendered  unsafe.^  The  life  of  Berquin  had 
been  already  twice  in  danger,  in  1523  and  1524,  on  which 
occasions  Francis  had  saved  him  at  the  intercession  of  his  sis- 
ter Margaret.  After  the  return  o£  that  monarch  from  his 
captivity  at  Madrid,  persecution  grew  warmer ;  and  in  1527 
Berquin  was  again  arrested  on  the  charge  of  having  mutilated 
a  statue  of  the  Virgin,  which  stood  in  one  of  the  streets  of 
Paris.  Twelve  commissaries  were  selected  from  the  Parlia- 
ment to  try  him,  among  whom  was  Bude,  who  earnestly  en- 
deavored to  get  him  to  recant.  With  a  view  to  save  him, 
the  trial  was  protracted  for  eighteen  months  ;  but,  as  he  would 
not  retract,  he  was  at  length  condemned  to  make  the  amende 
honorable  at  Notre  Dame,  with  a  rope  round  his  neck,  and  a 
torch  in  his  hand  ;  to  have  his  works  burned,  and  his  tongue 

overcome,  they  should,  with  the  blessing  of  the  pontiff,  be  carried  off  by- 
poison.     Aleander  is  strong  in  this  art.     He  pressed  me  very  much  at  Co- 
logne to  come  and  dine  w^ith  him,  but  the  more  he  pressed,  the  more  I  re- 
fused."—Erasmus,  Ep.  317,  App.  1  Ep.  941. 
3  Hist,  dcs  Eq-lises  JZcf.,  l,  6.               3  Jortin,  Erasmus,  i.,  374,  et  seq. 

B 


26  LIFE  OF  ^OHN  CALVIN. 

pierced  with  a  red  hot  iron,  and  to  be  imprisoned  for  life. 
Berquin,  who  probably  considered  death  a  preferable  altern- 
ative, refused  to  make  the  amende,  and  was  burned,  with  his 
writings,  in  the  Place  de  Greve,  April  22d,  1529.  The  first 
article  of  his  impeachment  was,  that  he  had  recommended 
translations  of  the  Scriptures,  which  had  been  forbidden  by 
the  Parliament  of  Paris.  Erasmus  describes  him  as  by  no 
means  addicted  to  Lutheran  tenets  ;  and  attributes  his  death 
to  his  hatred  of  certain  stupid  and  ferocious  monks  and  the- 
ologers,  which  he  was  imprudent  enough  not  to  conceal.  He 
died  with  the  greatest  constancy,  and  attempted  to  address 
the  crowd ;  but  his  voice  was  drowned  by  the  clamor  of  six 
hundred  guards.^  The  erection  of  Lutheranism  into  a  dis- 
tinct and  recognized  system  of  faith  by  the  "  Confession  of 
Augsburg,"  increased  the  jealousy  and  vigilance  of  the  Sor- 
bonne.  All  who  held  reformed  tenets,  though  they  might 
not  precisely  accord  with  that  Confession,  were  regarded  as 
Lutherans,  and  called  by  that  name. 

Athwart  these  dark  scenes  of  bigotry  and  persecution,  Fran- 
cis's sister,  Margaret  de  Valois,  afterward  Queen  of  Navarre, 
beamed  like  an  angel  of  light  sent  to  mitigate  their  gloom  and 
horror.  Margaret's  character  was  a  curiously  compounded 
one.  Plato's  divine  and  earthly  love  never  met  more  con- 
spicuously in  a  human  being.*^  The  feelings  inspired  by  the 
former  found  expression  in  her  "  Miroir  de  V  Anie  pecheresse ;" 
to  the  latter  she  dedicated  her  "  Heptameron,^^  the  more  than 
equivocal  tales  of  which  are  all  said  to  have  been  founded  on 
real  occurrences.  Whether  the  mind  can  dwell  upon  such 
incidents,  and  even  commit  them  to  paper,  without  contami- 
nation, we  shall  leave  to  casuists. 

"  Crede  mihi,  distant  mores  a  carmine  nostri ; 
Vita  verecunda  est,  Musa  jocosa  mihi — " 

is  an  excuse  as  old  at  least  as  Ovid,  and  which  a  poet  of  the 
same  period  as  Margaret,  and  of  more  pretensions  to  sanctity 
than  she,  even  Beza  himself,  found  it  convenient  to  allege. 
Great  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  grossness  of  the  age, 
as  well  as  for  literary  fashion.  Boccaccio's  "  Decamerone'' 
had  just  been  translated  into  French,  of  which  the  ^'  Heph 

1  Erasmus,  Ep.  1060.  Petitot,  M6m.,  xvii.,  98.  Genin,  Lettres  de  Mar- 
guerite, i.,  Notice,  p.  48. 

a  M.  Genin,  the  recent  editor  of  Margaret's  correspondence,  observes : 
"Le  trait  saillant  du  charactere  de  Marguerite  c'est  d' avoir  allie  toute  sa 
vie  les  idees  religieuses  et  les  idees  d'amour  mondain." — Vol.  i.,  p.  72. 


MARGARET  DE  VALOIS.  27 

tameron'''  is  a  professed  imitation.^  Brantome  was  the  first  to 
attack  the  reputation  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  which  seems 
not  to  have  been  impeached  during  her  hfe  ;  and  the  character 
of  her  writings,  as  well  as  her  poetical  coquetry  with  Clement 
Marot,  her  valet  de  chambre,  doubtless  lent  a  color  to  the 
attacks  of  that  filthy  old  scandal-monger.  Margaret's  preface 
to  her  tales — a  strange  portico  to  such  a  building — would  lead 
us  to  suppose  that  she  herself  thought  no  harm  in  them. 
There,  under  the  name  of  Dame  Oisille,  she  describes  her  re- 
ligious exercises  :  how  she  reads  the  Bible  the  first  thing  after 
getting  up,  and  then  recites  some  psalms  ;  how  she  retires 
before  supper  to  feed  her  soul  with  study  and  meditation  ;  and 
how  in  the  evening  she  recalls  the  events  of  each  day,  asking 
pardon  for  faults,  and  giving  thanks  for  mercies.  Is  this  the 
language  of  the  shameless  and  abandoned  ?  No  ;  let  us  rather 
think  that  her  true  woman's  heart  was  as  pure  as  it  was  kind. 

With  such  a  temperament  we  are  not,  however,  surprised 
to  find  that  Margaret  was  under  the  dominion  of  a  spiritual 
mysticism.  Of  this  she  made  no  secret  ;  nay,  she  rather 
seems  to  have  been  flattered  by  allusions  to  it :  for  Babelais 
adverts  to  it,  in  some  lines,  themselves  sufficiently  mystical,  in 
which  he  dedicates  to  her  the  third  book  of  the  *'  Adventures 
of  Pantagruel."^  This  spirit  led  her  in  after-life  to  patronize 
some  of  the  leaders  of  the  sect  of  spiritual  libertines,  lor  which 
Calvin,  as  there  will  be  occasion  to  relate  in  the  course  of  this 
narrative,  found  occasion  to  reprove  her.  Hence,  also,  sprang 
her  correspondence  with  Bri^onnet,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  who, 
like  herself,  was  a  great  patron  of  the  Reformers. 

Bri9onnet  was  the  son  of  the  cardinal  of  that  name.  He 
enjoyed  the  confidence  of  Louis  XII.  and  Francis  I.  ;  had 
twice  filled  the  office  of  extraordinary  embassador  to  Home  ; 
and  had  been  the  representative  of  France  at  the  Councils  of 
Pisa  and  the  Lateran.  He  had  been  abbot  of  St.  Germain 
des  Pres,  where  he  had  distinguished  himself  by  reforming 
abuses,  and  by  making  great  additions  to  the  library  :  for  he 
was  fond  of  literature,  himself  an  author,  and  a  liberal  patron 
of  learned  men.  When  the  new  doctrines  began  to  make  a 
sensation  in  France,  Bric^onnet,  who  had  been  raised  to  the 
bishopric  of  Meaux,  manifested  some  inclination  toward  them, 

1  After  all  we  find  nothing  in  the  "  Heptameron"  similar  to  "  La  Ruelle 
mal  assortie"  of  a  subsequent  Margaret  de  Valois,  the  authoress  of  tha 
"Memoirs,"  a  tale  which  at  once  places  her  character  beyond  doubt. 
"  "Esprit  abstrait,  ravy,  et  ecstatic, 

CXui  frequentant  les  cieux  ton  origine 
A  delaisse  ton  hoste  et  domestic,  &c. 


28  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

and  invited  into  his  diocese  several  leaders  of  the  Reformed 
party  ;  as  Farel,  then  regent  of  the  college  of  Cardinal  le 
Moine,  Le  Fevre  d'Etaples,  Vatable,  Martial  and  Gerard 
Ruffi  (or  Le  Roux),  and  others.^  Some  writers  assert  that 
Brigonnet's  object  was  to  reconcile  these  schismatics  with  the 
Church  of  Rome  ;  but,  if  so,  he  was  very  unfortunate  in  the 
prosecution  of  it ;  for  he  incurred  so  strong  a  suspicion  of 
heresy,  that  he  was  obliged  to  clear  himself  by  dismissing  his 
Reforming  friends,  and  by  pronouncing  a  condemnation  of 
Luther  in  a  synod  held  expressly  for  the  purpose  in  1523.  It 
was  in  that  year  that  he  had  begun  his  correspondence  with 
Margaret,  then  Duchess  of  Alencon,  and  which  displays  a 
mysticism  bordering  on  extravagance  and  folly, ^  In  his  let- 
ters to  Margaret,  Briconnet,  though  many  years  her  senior, 
signs  himself  her  unworthy  son ;  and  Margaret,  on  her  part, 
assumes  the  tone  and  authority  of  a  spiritual  mother. 

In  1525  we  find  her  corresponding  with  Count  Hohenloe, 
dean  of  the  grand  chapter  of  Strasburgh,  who  endeavored  to 
bring  her  over  to  Lutheranism  ;  but  this  correspondence  Mar- 
garet broke  off  after  the  return  of  her  brother  from  his  cap- 
tivity at  Madrid.^  After  her  marriage,  in  1527,  with  Henri 
d'Albret,  king  of  Navarre — for  the  Duke  of  Alencon  had  died 
of  grief  and  vexation  at  the  reproaches  heaped  upon  him  for 
his  conduct  at  Pavia — she  retired  with  her  husband  into 
Beam,  where  her  court  became  the  refuge  of  the  persecuted 
Protestants ;  among  whom  we  find  Le  Fevre  d'Etaples, 
Gerard  Le  Roux,  and,  for  a  short  time,  Calvin  himself  It 
was  the  shelter  which  she  gave  to  men  like  these  that  chiefly 
tended  to  draw  down  upon  Margaret  that  suspicion  of  heresy 
which  other  parts  of  her  conduct  were  not  calculated  to  avert. 
At  her  table  at  Nerac,  when  surrounded  by  her  ecclesiastics 
and  officers  of  state,  it  was  her  custom  to  discuss  some  text 
of  Scripture ;  and,  by  way  of  amusement,  little  satirical 
dramas  of  her  own  composition  were  represented,  in  which 
the  Pope  and  his  satellites  were  not  spared."*  In  the  visits 
which  she  frequently  made  to  Paris  she  used  her  influence 

^  See  Farel's  Letter  to  Scepper  in  1524  (Gerdesius,  iv.,  51). 

2  M.  Genin  thus  characterizes  his  letters  :  "  C'est  un  debordement  de 
metaphores  dont  la  vulgai'ite  tombe  a  chaque  instant  dans  le  burlesque ; 
c'est  un  galimatias  perpetuel,  absurde,  qui  parfois  touche  a  la  folia." — Let- 
tres  de  Marg.,  i,,  124,  note. 

3  lb.,  Notice,  p.  16. 

4  Maimbourg,  Hist,  d-u  Calvinisme,  p.  21.  Lettres  de  Marg.,  x..  Notice, 
p.  70.  There  are,  however,  no  such  pieces  now  extant  among  her  writings, 
but  only  i-eligions  mystei-ies,  diversified  with  Bergerios,  or  Pastorals.  lb.. 
p.  120. 


MARGARET  DE  VALOIS.  29 

with  Francis  in  favor  of  the  Reformers  ;  and  in  this  she  was 
assisted  by  the  Duchess  d'Etampes,  the  king's  mistress.  One 
day,  in  the  year  1533,  they  took  him  to  hear  Le  Coq,  the 
cure  of  St.  Eustache,  who,  though  outwardly  a  Cathohc, 
taught  Zwinghan  doctrines,  especially  with  regard  to  the 
eucharist,  which  he  made  the  subject  of  his  discourse  on  this 
occasion.  Le  Coq  had  even  a  private  audience  of  the  king, 
and  almost  succeeded  in  shaking  his  faith ;  but  the  matter 
having  reached  the  ears  of  the  cardinals  of  Lorraine  and 
Tournon,  they  obliged  the  adventurous  ecclesiastic  to  make  a 
public  recantation  in  the  pulpit.^ 

After  all  it  seems  doubtful  whether  Margaret  ever  really 
quitted  the  Roman  Catholic  communion ;  and  at  all  events  she 
appears  to  have  finished  her  eccentric  religious  career  by  re- 
turning to  its  bosom.  After  the  death  of  Francis,  in  1547, 
she  retired  to  a  convent  in  Angoumois,  where  she  officiated  as 
abbess,  and  chanted  vespers  with  the  nuns ;  and,  on  her  death- 
bed, after  receiving  extreme  unction  from  the  hands  of  Gilles 
Cailleau,  a  Cordelier,  she  is  said  to  have  protested  that  all  she 
had  ever  done  in  favor  of  the  Ft-eformers  was  out  of  pure  com- 
passion, and  not  from  any  wish  to  depart  from  the  religion  of 
her  forefathers.^ 

Margaret's  love  of  literature  was,  doubtless,  one  of  the  chief 
causes  which  induced  her  to  sympathize  with  the  Reformers. 
The  learning  of  the  age  lay  almost  exclusively  on  their  side. 
A  literary  quarrel  between  Reuchlin  and  the  monks  of  Cologne 
proved  of  the  greatest  service  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation. 
The  inveterate  malice  with  which  the  latter  persecuted  Reuch- 
lin^ drove  all  the  lovers  of  true  learning  to  form  a  confederacy 
in  his  favor  ;  and  after  the  appearance  of  Luther  the  greater 
portion  of  them  joined  his  standard.  The  efforts  of  this  con- 
stellation of  wits  were  directed  to  ridicule  the  ignorance  of  the 
monks,  especially  their  barbarous  Latinity  :  and  it  is  to  them 
that  we  owe  the  ''  EpistolcB  obscurorum  Virorum,''  a  satire 
conducted  with  considerable  humor,  and  which  so  annoyed  the 

i  Maimbourg,  Hist,  du  Calvinisme,  p.  24. 

2  Genin,  Lettres  de  Marguirite,  ii.,  18.    Petitot,  xvii.,  183. 

3  Hochstraten,  prior  of  the  Dominicans  of  Cologne,  spent  three  years  at 
Rome  in  ,endeavoi-ing  to  get  Reuchlin  condemned,  but  without  success 
(Sleidan,  ii.,  25.  Gerdesius,  i.,  141).  In  the  dedication  of  his  "■  Destructio 
Cabalce,"  published  in  1519,  Hochstraten  pointed  out  that  Capnio's  affair 
(Capnio  is  a  Greek  version  of  Reuchlin's  name)  was  closely  connected  with 
Luther's  Reformation  (Mayerhoff,  Reuchlin,  u.  s.  Zeit.,  p.  234).  The  prog- 
ress of  the  latter,  by  means  of  Reuchlin,  Erasmus,  and  Luther,  was  de- 
picted with  truth  and  humor  in  a  little  pantomime  acted  before  Charles  V, 
during  the  diet  at  Augsburg.  See  Jortin,  Erasmus,  i.,  514 ;  and  Gerdesius, 
ii.,  Mon.  7. 


30  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

monks  of  Cologne  that  they  are  said  to  have  given  a  large  sum 
to  Leo  X.  for  a  bull  consigning  it  to  the  flames.^ 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Reuchlinists  was  Eras- 
mus. The  character  of  that  Reformer,  if  so  he  can  be  called, 
is  well  known.  Had  all  the  rest  resembled  him  there  had 
been  no  Reformation.  It  seems  to  be  a  rule  of  human  action, 
that  no  great  change  can  be  effected  in  any  very  corrupt  system 
of  civil  or  rehgious  government  without  proceeding  to  extremes 
in  the  opposite  direction  ;  and  that  the  more  grinding  and  op- 
pressive has  been  a  tyranny  the  more  violent  and  uncontrollable 
will  be  the  revolution  which  upsets  it.  As  in  the  natural  so 
in  the  moral  atmosphere,  the  stagnant  vapors  must  be  cleared 
away  by  storms  and  lightnings.  Erasmus,  by  his  own  con- 
fession, wanted  the  courage  of  a  martyr  in  an  age  when  nothing 
could  be  effected  but  by  the  spirit  of  martyrdom.  At  this  dis- 
tance of  time  there  may  be  many  inclined  to  think  that  the 
reforms  which  he  proposed,  with  some  few  additions,  would 
have  sufficed  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  case  :  ^  but  the 
suggestions  of  reason  and  moderation  are  seldom  of  a  nature 
to  rouse  that  enthusiasm  without  which  no  great  changes  can 
be  effected  ;  and  by  the  more  ardent  Reformers  Erasmus  wag 
regarded,  either  with  hatred  or  suspicion,  as  a  temporizer. 
Luther  compared  him  to  Moses,  who  had,  indeed,  led  the 
Israelites  out  of  Egypt,  but  who  was  himself  doomed  to  perish 
in  the  desert.  "  I  wish,"  rejoined  Erasmus,  "  that  he  may 
prove  a  Joshua,  and  conduct  us  all  into  the  land  of  promise.'"' 
But  before  that  could  be  effected  the  world  was  destined  to 
witness  many  scenes  of  violence,  fanaticism,  and  bloodshed, 
enacted  under  the  sacred  name  of  religion  ;  and  though  we 
have  made  some  approach  toward  that  happy  region,  it  may 
even  be  doubted  whether  we  are  quite  arrived  there  yet. 

But,  in  spite  of  this  moderation,  the  exertions  of  Erasmus 
did  much  to  prepare  the  way  for  bolder  and  more  ardent 
spirits,  by  exposing  the  abuses  of  the  existing  system,  and  in- 
spiring men's  minds  with  a  desire  of  change.  The  moderate 
views  of  reform  developed  in  his  writings,  enforced  as  they 
were  by  the  keen  sarcasm  of  his  wit,  and  by  the  elegant  terse- 
ness of  his  style,  proved  highly  attractive  at  a  time  when  the 
character  of  the  clergy  had  begun  to  create  an  almost  universal 
feeling  of  contempt  and  disgust.  This  was  particularly  the 
case  among  the  highest  and  more  educated  portion  of  society 

1  Amcenitates  Lit.,  ix. 

!*  He  has  summed  these  up  in  his  "  Spongia  adversus  Adspergines  Hut- 
teni."  3  Erasmus  Zuinglio,  apud  Gerdes,  i.,  151- 


HIS  RESIDENCE  AT  PARIS.  31 

in  France  ;  among  whom  the  brilliance  and  piquancy  of 
Erasmus's  writings  rendered  him  an  especial  favorite.  His 
popularity  in  that  country  may  be  judged  of  by  the  fact, 
that  in  1527  a  bookseller  at  Paris  ventured  to  reprint  24,000 
copies  of  his  "  Colloquies."  They  are  said  to  have  found  a 
rapid  sale,  which  was,  perhaps,  assisted  by  the  book  having 
been  prohibited.^  Thus  unconsciously,  and,  perhaps,  unwill- 
ingly, he  helped  to  prepare  Calvin's  path  in  France ;  who,  as 
already  related,  had  gone  to  Paris  in  1532  to  begin  his  career 
as  a  Reformer,  and  to  whom  we  must  now  return. 

Calvin  seems  at  this  time  to  have  indulged  the  ambitious 
view  of  becoming  the  head  of  the  Reformed  party  in  France, 
and  of  converting  the  court  and  the  metropolis.  The  cir- 
cumstances of  the  times  were  well  adapted  to  stimulate  an 
ardent  mind.  Enough  success  had  been  achieved  to  justify 
the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  Ref- 
ormation ;  and  enough  danger  existed  to  render  the  pursuit 
of  it  a  work  of  no  ordinary  difficulty  and  hazard.  Calvin 
was  constantly  employed  in  gaining  converts,  and  in  confirm- 
ing those  already  made.  During  his  residence  at  Paris  at 
this  period,  he  was  much  patronized  by  a  merchant  named 
Estienne  de  la  Forge,  whom  he  mentions  in  the  fourth  chapter 
of  his  tract  against  the  Libertines,  as  having  sufiered  martyr- 
dom for  his  religious  principles.^  At  this  time  the  heat  of 
persecution  obliged  the  evangelical  congregations  to  assemble 
in  the  greatest  secrecy.  To  these  Calvin  preached  with  zeal 
and  energy,  concluding  always  with  the  words  of  St.  Paul, 
"  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ?"^  In  order  to 
shame  the  king  and  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  out  of  their 
persecuting  principles,  he  published  his  first  work,  the  two 
books  of  Seneca  "  De  Clementid,"  with  a  Commentary,  in 
which  he  freely  expressed  his  opinions.  In  this  work,  the 
dedication  of  which  to  the  abbot  of  St.  Eloi  is  dated  from 
Paris  on  the  4th  of  April,  1532,  he  first  assumed  the  name 
of  Calvinus.  The  sententious  morality  of  Seneca  made  him 
a  favorite  author  with  Calvin  ;  but  it  has  been  remarked  that 
he  has  committed  the  blunder  of  confounding  the  two  Senecas 
together,  and  thus  making  the  philosopher  die  at  the  age  of 
115.  From  two  of  Calvin's  letters  to  his  friend  Daniel,  it 
appears  that  this  work  was  printed  at  his  own  risk ;  and  he 

1  Petitot,  xvii.,  Introd.,  p.  96.  Knight,  quoted  by  Jortiu,  Erasmus,  i., 
300. 

2  Beza,  Vie  de  Calvin,  p.  15,  Geneve,  1663. 
2  P.  Henry,  Lehen  Calvins,  i.,  49. 


32  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

expresses  some  anxiety,  not  only  with  regard  to  the  reception 
it  may  meet  with,  but  also  for  the  reimbursement  of  his  ex- 
penses.^ 

Calvin,  however,  was  not  endowed  with  the  masculine  and 
indomitable  courage  of  Luther,  and  was  more  inclined  to 
propagate  his  doctrines  by  stealth,  and  at  a  safe  distance, 
than  to  risk  his  life  in  maintaining  them.  Thus,  though  he 
was  continually  exhorting  others  to  behave  like  martyrs,  he 
was  himself  always  disposed  to  fly  at  the  first  appearance  of 
danger.  His  first  great  public  essay  at  Paris  was  made  in  the 
person  of  another.  According  to  custom,  Nicholas  Cop,  the 
newly-elected  rector  of  the  Sorbonne,  was  to  deliver  a  sermon 
on  the  festival  of  All  Saints. '^  Though  thus  raised  to  the  very 
pinnacle  of  orthodoxy.  Cop  had  imbibed  the  tenets  of  the 
Reformation,  and  accepted  Calvin's  offer  to  compose  his  ser- 
mon. Great  was  the  astonishment  of  the  doctors  of  the  Sor- 
bonne, when,  instead  of  upholding,  as  usual,  the  tenets  of  the 
Romish  Church,  Cop  insisted  on  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  alone,  and  referred  to  the  gospel  as  the  sole  standard 
of  religious  truth  I  The  attack  was  too  audacious  to  be  over- 
looked. Cop  was  denounced  to  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  who 
sent  their  officers  to  apprehend  him.  A  timely  notice  from  a 
friend  enabled  him  to  escape  to  Basle,  his  native  town.  The 
storm  now  fell  upon  Calvin,  whose  share  in  the  sermon  seems 
to  have  got  wind.  Jean  Morin,  the  lieutenant  of  police,  re- 
paired to  his  lodgings  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  him  ;  but 
Calvin  had  also  received  a  private  warning,  and  saved  him- 
self by  flight.  The  manner  of  his  escape  is  differently  nar- 
rated. According  to  some  writers,^  he  let  himself  down  from 
his  window,  by  means  of  his  sheets,  into  the  Rue  des  Bernard- 
ins,  whence,  having  gained  the  Fauxbourg  St.  Victor,  he  sought 
the  house  of  a  vine-dresser,  whom  he  knew ;  and,  putting  on 
the  man's  frock,  with  a  wallet  of  white  cloth,  and  a  hoe  upon 
his  shoulders,  took  the  road  to  Noyon.  These  romantic  details 
are  not  found  in  the  narrative  of  Beza,"*  who  tells  us  that  Cal- 

1  MS.  Bern.,  quoted  by  P.  Henry,  Leben  Calvins,  i.,  51. 

2  Maimbourg,  p.  57,  and  the  author  of  the  EgL  R&f.,  call  Cop  rector  of  the 
University. 

3  Masson,  Maimbourg,  Drelincourt. 

4  Bayle  (art,  Calvin,  rem.  C.)  observes:  "Si  ce  narre  etait  veritable  Beze 
serait  un  mauvais  historien;  car  il  dit  simplement  que  par  hazard  Calvin 
ne  se  trouva  pas  dans  sa  claoxabve,  quo  forte  domi  non  reperto."  On  w^hich 
his  annotator  observes:  "Beze  emploie  I'expression  par  hazard  dans  sa 
Vie  d-e  Calvin;  mais  dans  son  Histoire  EccUsiastiqueW  dit  que  les  avertisse- 
mens  de  qnelques  amis  garantirent  Calvin  des  poursuites;  d'oii  Le  Clerc 
ne  manque  pas  d'accorder  a  Bayle,  que  Beze  est  un  mauvais  historien." 
The  fact,  however,  is,  that  Beza  was  not  the  author  of  Histoire  EccUsias- 


HIS  FLIGHT  FROM  PARIS.  33 

vin  was  saved  by  the  interposition  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre, 
who  sent  for  him  to  the  palace,  where  he  was  honorably  re- 
ceived. His  letters  and  papers  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  police, 
and  thus  the  safety  of  several  of  his  friends  was  seriously  com- 
promised. 

At  Noyon,  Calvin  remained  only  long  enough  to  dispose  of 
his  benefices.  He  sold  his  chaplaincy,  and  resigned  the  living 
of  Pont  I'Eveque  in  favor  of  a  cousin,  whose  morals,  though 
a  priest,  seem  to  have  been  any  thing  but  pure.^  Calvin  was 
now  compelled  to  lead  a  wandering  life ;  a  circumstance,  by 
the  way,  which  hardly  agrees  with  Beza's  account  of  the 
termination  of  the  affair  of  the  sermon.  He  first  went  into 
Xaintonge,  where  he  must  have  spent  some  little  time,  if,  as 
is  reported,  he  drew  up  some  short  sermons  for  the  use  of  the 
neighboring  clergy,  calculated  to  dispose  the  minds  of  their 
flocks  for  the  reception  of  the  new  doctrines.  The  friend  men- 
tioned by  Beza  as  encouraging  him  in  this  design,  and  who 
afterward  fled  with  him  into  Switzerland,  was  Louis  du  Tillet, 
brother  of  the  registrar  of  the  Parliament  at  Paris,  and  of  the 
Bishop  of  Meaux.  From  Xaintonge  Calvin  went  to  Nerac, 
the  residence  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  where  he  met,  for  the 
first  time,  with  Le  Fevre  d'Etaples,  whose  name  there  has 
been  already  occasion  to  mention.  Le  Fevre,  when  young, 
had  traveled  much  in  Asia  and  Africa,  and  subsequently  be- 
came professor  of  philosophy  at  the  college  of  Cardinal  Le 
Moine,  in  Paris.  He  was  a  truly  learned  man,  and  had  been 
intrusted  with  the  education  of  Charles,  Duke  of  Angouleme, 
Francis  wished  to  bestow  some  ecclesiastical  dignities  upon 
him,  which,  however,  the  tricks  and  intrigues  of  the  Sorbonne, 
whose  anger  had  been  excited  by  his  translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  published  in  1523,  prevented  him  from  accepting. 
In  1524  Margaret  sent  him  and  Gerard  Le  Roux  to  Stras- 
burgh,  to  consult  with  Bucer,  Capito,  and  the  other  theologians 
of  that  town,  on  matters  of  religion.^  Shortly  afterward  he 
introduced  into  the  Sorbonne  the  ubiquitarian  doctrine,  that 
is,  the  ubiquity  of  the  presence  of  Christ's  body ;  a  doctrine 

tique  (or  rather  Hist,  des  Eglises  Riform6es),  which  passes  under  his  name, 
as  is  manifest  from  some  passages  in  it;  for  instance  the  following:  "de 
Beze  ne  repondit  rien  pour  lors,  pom-cequ'il  se  contentoit  [comme  depuis  je 
luy  ay  oui  dire)  d'avoir  repondu  au  principal,"  &c. — Vol.  i.,  p.  358.  It  was 
written  by  Des  Gallars,  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  Genevese  Church.  See 
Schlosser,  Leben  des  Tli.  de  Bdze,  p.  105,  note. 

'  Drelincourt,  p.  172.  The  atrocious  calumny  of  Bolsec,  that  he  was  de- 
prived of  these  benefices  for  an  infamous  crime,  has  long  since  been  rejected 
by  all  candid  inquirers. 

3  Scultetus,  apud  V.  der  Hardt,  Hist.  Lit.  Reform.,  v.  68, 


34  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

not  known  before  that  age,  and  afterward  adopted  by  Luther.* 
For  this  heresy  he  was  banished"  from  France,  in  1525,  on  the 
accusation  of  Beda.  In  1526  we  find  him  living  at  Stras- 
burgh,  under  a  feigned  name.^  Subsequently,  he  seems  to 
have  been  appointed  to  the  humble  post  of  librarian  at  Blois, 
from  which  he  retired  to  Margaret's  court  at  Nerac,  where 
he  died  in  1536,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-one.^  Le 
Fevre  received  Calvin  with  friendship,  and  is  said  to  have 
predicted  his  future  success  in  spreading  the  gospel  in  France.'' 
Calvin's  presence  in  this  district  seems  to  have  created  some 
sensation,  for  a  vineyard  in  it  is  said  to  have  borne  his  name 
a  century  and  a  half  afterward.  During  his  residence  at  Claix, 
in  the  house  of  Louis  du  Tillet,  he  is  supposed  to  have  written 
a  great  part  of  his  "  Institutes,"  pubUshed  a  few  years  after- 
ward at  Strasburgh.^ 

Before  the  year  1533  had  expired,  Calvin  again  ventured 
to  return  to  Paris.  The  persecutions  were,  indeed,  still  raging 
there ;  but  the  influence  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre  served  in 
some  measure  to  annul  their  violence.  Under  her  protection, 
Gerard  Le  Boux,  originally  a  Dominican,  and  two  Augustin- 
ian  monks,  Bertault  and  Courault,  the  latter  of  whom  subse- 
quently became  a  minister  at  Geneva,  still  preached  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Reformation  in  that  city.  The  hatred  which 
Margaret's  conduct  excited  against  her  among  the  clergy,  is 
exemplified  by  an  anecdote  related  by  Calvin  in  a  letter  to 
his  friend  Daniel.  On  the  1st  of  October,  1533,  in  the  play 
annually  produced  at  the  college  of  Navarre,  Margaret  was 
represented  on  the  stage  as  receiving  the  gospel  from  the  hands 
of  the  fury  Megaera,  and  subsequently  conducting  herself  in  a 
way  that  might  well  have  been  suggested  by  such  a  messenger 
of  hel].^  Beda  and  the  Sorbonne  had  previously  denounced 
her  '' Miroir  de  VAme  pecheresse.'''  Because  she  had  not 
mentioned  purgatory,  and  the  intercession  of  saints,  it  was 
inferred  that  she  did  not  believe  in  them ;  but  this  evidence 
was  merely  negative,  and  Margaret,  defended  by  Petit,  bishop 
of  Senlis,  escaped  the  denunciation  of  Beda.  Margaret  com- 
plained to  her  brother  of  these  attacks,  who,  when  politics  did 
not  stand  in  the  way,  was  disposed  to  show  her  every  mark 
of  affection.     The  pedants  of  the  college  of  Navarre  escaped 

1  lb.,  p.  70.    Sleidan,  v.  84.     Basnage,  Egl.  R^f.,  ii.,  336. 

2  Scultetus,  1.  c,  p.  114. 

3  Lettres  de  Marg.,  i.,  278,  note.  Gerdesias,  however  (i.,  172),  places  his 
birth  in  1440.  *  Gerdesius.  i.,  175. 

^  Bayle.  ^  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  L 


RETURNS  TO  MEET  SERVETUS.  35 

only  through  the  generous  intercession  of  Margaret  herself. 
Beda  discovered  too  late  that  he  had  flown  at  too  high  a 
quarry,  and  expiated  his  rashness  by  dying  a  prisoner  at  Mont 
St.  Michel. 

In  1534  Calvin  received  a  challenge  from  the  arch-heretic 
Servetus,  to  meet  him  in  disputation ;  and,  according  to  Beza, 
this  had  been  the  motive  of  Calvin's  journey  to  Paris.  Many 
years  afterward  they  were  destined  to  meet  under  extraordinary 
circumstances ;  but,  on  this  occasion,  Servetus  failed  to  keep 
the  appointment,  for  fear,  it  is  said,  of  Calvin's  superior  abil- 
ities ;  though  a  dread  of  the  Sorbonne  may  be  a  more  probable 
cause.  In  the  same  year  Calvin  published,  at  Orleans,  his 
treatise  entitled  ''Psychopannydda''  It  was  directed  against 
a  notion,  said  to  be  of  Arabian  origin,  and  revived  by  the  Ana- 
baptists, that  the  soul,  upon  quitting  the  body,  falls  into  a 
sleep  till  the  day  of  judgment.  Erasmus  seems  at  one  time 
to  have  entertained  this  opinion.^  Calvin  also  published  a 
Latin  version  of  this  treatise  at  Paris. 

About  this  period,  the  indiscreet  zeal  of  some  of  the  friends 
of  the  Reformation  inflicted  irreparable  damage  on  that  cause 
in  France,  and  gave  occasion  to  a  redoubled  violence  of  per- 
secution. Toward  the  close  of  1534,  one  Feret,  a  servant  of 
the  king's  apothecary,  caused  a  quantity  of  placards  to  be 
printed  at  Neufchatel,  with  the  intention  of  posting  them  up 
in  the  streets  and  public  places  of  Paris.  Farel,  the  former 
rector  of  the  college  of  Cardinal  Le  Moine,  is  said  to  have 
been  concerned  in  drawing  up  these  productions,  which  con- 
sisted of  violent  invectives  against  the  mass  and  the  Pope.^ 
These  intemperate  manifestos,  which  were  highly  disapproved 
of  by  all  moderate  men  of  the  Protestant  party,  were  placarded 
in  the  night  of  the  18th  of  October,  in  diflerent  parts  of  the 

1  Jortin,  i.,  122.  It  was  also  once  held  by  Sir  T.  Browne.  See  Rel. 
Medici,  Pt.  i.,  §  7. 

2  Crespin,  Livre  des  Martyrs,  apud  P.  Henry,  i.,  74.  They  will  be  found 
in  Gerdesius,  iv.,  Mon.  11,  and  in  P.  Henry,  i.,  Beil.  4.  The  following  are 
specimens  :  "  Or  ne  peuvent  iis  faire  entendre  a  nul  de  sain  entendement 
que  Jesus  Christ,  les  Apotres,  et  les  prophetes,  soyent  menteurs  ;  mais  faut 
malgre  leurs  dents  que  le  Pape  et  toute  sa  vermine  de  Cardinaux,  d'Eve- 
ques,  de  pretres,  de  moines,  et  autres  caphars,  diseurs  de  messe,  et  tous 
ceux  qui  y  consentent  soyent  tels  :  assavoir,  faux  prophetes,  damnablea 
trorapeurs,  apostats,  loups,  faux  pasteurs,  idolatres  seducteurs,  menteurs, 
blasphemateurs,  execrables,  meurtriers  des  ames,  renonceurs  de  Jesus 
Christ,  laiTons  et  ravisseurs  de  I'honneur  de  Dieu,  et  plus  detestables  que 
les  diables."  Again,  after  a  tirade  againgt  transubstantiation  :  "  AUumez 
done  vos  fagots  pour  vous  brusler  et  rosur  vous-memes,  et  non  pas  nous, 
pour  ce  que  nous  ne  voulons  pas  croire  a  vos  idoles,  a  vos  Dieux  nouveaux, 
a  vous  nouveaux  Christs,  qui  se  laissent  manger  aux  betes,  et  a  vous  pareil- 
lement  qui  estes  pires  que  betes,"  &c. 


2^¥  i^- 


36  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

metropolis ;  some  being  affixed  to  the  Louvre  itself,  and  even 
to  the  door  of  the  king's  chamber.  Francis  was  highly  in- 
censed at  this  audacity,  and  seized  the  occasion  it  presented 
to  vindicate  his  orthodoxy  from  the  suspicion  w^hich  his  con- 
nection  with  Henry  VIII.,  and  his  opposition  to  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  the  champion  of  the  CathoHc  Church,  had  engen- 
dered. In  order  to  purify  the  city  from  the  defilement  it  had 
suffered,  he  directed  a  solemn  lustration  to  be  made  on  the  29th 
of  January  following.  The  image  of  St.  Genevieve,  the  patron 
saint  of  Paris,  whose  assistance  is  resorted  to  only  in  cases  of 
the  greatest  emergency,  was  paraded  through  the  streets  in 
solemn  procession  by  the  company  of  butchers,  to  whom,  by 
an  ancient  custom,  that  right  belonged.^  Jean  du  Bellay, 
the  Bishop  of  Paris,  carried  the  host  under  a  magnificent  dais, 
supported  by  the  dauphin,  the  Dukes  of  Orleans  and  Angou- 
lerne,  and  the  Duke  of  Vendome,  first  prince  of  the  blood. 
The  king  followed  immediately  after,  bare-headed,  on  foot, 
and  carrying  a  white  taper  in  his  hand.  After  him  came 
the  rest  of  the  princes  ;  the  great  officers  of  state,  cardinals, 
bishops,  embassadors,  and  others,  walking  two  and  two 
abreast  in  profound  silence,  and  with  lighted  flambeaux.  The 
monks  and  clergy  of  Paris,  the  council,  the  parliament  in 
their  red  robes,  the  public  officers,  according  to  their  degrees, 
swelled  the  ranks  of  the  procession,  whose  course  was  from 
the  Louvre  to  Notre  Dame,  where  a  solemn  mass  was  per- 
formed. After  this  act  of  humiliation,  Francis  dined  in  the 
great  hall  of  the  Eveche,  where  the  chief  of  those  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  procession  were  assembled.  In  the  presence 
of  this  august  meeting,  Francis  delivered  an  animated  and 
passionate  speech,  in  which  he  declared  that  if  he  suspected 
one  of  his  own  members  to  be  infected  with  these  new  heresies, 
he  would  not  scruple  to  cut  it  off;  nor  to  offer  up,  with  his 
own  hand,  as  a  sacrifice  to  divine  justice,  any  of  his  children 
who  might  have  imbibed  them.  The  pomp  of  this  supersti- 
tious pageant  was  eclipsed  by  the  horror  of  the  scene  reserved 
for  the  close  of  the  day.  Six  wretches,  convicted  of  Lutheran- 
ism,  were  condemned  by  a  decree  of  the  Parliament  to  be  burned 
in  a  slow  fire.  They  were  suspended  by  a  rope  to  a  machine, 
by  which  they  were  several  times  let  down  into  the  flames, 
and  again  drawn  up,  till  at  length  the  executioner  cut  the 
rope,  and  precipitated  them  into  the  fire.  The  more  educated 
among  them  had  their  toilgues  slit,  lest  they  should  infect 
the  people  with  their  doctrines.  Altogether,  four-and-twenty 
1  Sleidan,  ix.,  148. 


DEATH  OF  LE  ROUX  27 

perished  in  Paris  in  this  manner.  The  Germans  residing 
there  were  particularly  the  objects  of  suspicion.^ 

This  unfortunate  occurrence  did  great  damage  to  the  cause 
of  the  Reformers.  Some  fled,  others  were  imprisoned , 
among  the  latter  Gerard  le  Roux.  Here  was  an  opportunity 
for  the  beneficent  offices  of  Margaret,  which  she  did  not 
neglect.  A  letter  of  hers  to  Montmorency  is  still  extant,  in 
which  she  pleads  for  Le  Roux's  life  ;  and  asserts  not  only  his 
orthodoxy  but  her  own.^  Her  mediation  was  successful,  and 
Le  Roux,  on  his  liberation  from  prison,  retired  to  her  court 
at  Nerac.  Here  Margaret  made  him  her  spiritual  director, 
obtained  for  him  the  abbey  of  Clairac,  and  subsequently  the 
bishopric  of  Oleron.  But,  though  he  preached  at  her  court 
in  a  lay  habit,  and  is  said  to  have  maintained,  like  Calvin,  a 
mystical  presence  in  the  eucharist,  he  never  openly  separated 
from  the  Romish  communion.  Indeed,  after  this  peril,  he 
not  only  thought  it  advisable  to  adopt  an  outward  compli- 
ance with  it  himself,  but  persuaded  Margaret  to  do  the  like, 
on  the  ground  that  mere  outward  rites  are  things  indifierent. 
In  this  their  example  was  followed  by  many  of  the  higher 
classes ;  and  thus  arose  a  large  body  of  conformers,  who  ex- 
cused themselves  by  pleading  the  example  of  Nicodemus. 
Against  these  Calvin  subsequently  wrote  two  tracts,  as  there 
win  be  occasion  to  narrate  further  on.  Le  Roux's  life,  how- 
ever, was  irreproachable.  He  was  dihgent  in  preaching  and 
in  instructing  the  young,  and  a  kind  benefactor  to  the  poor. 
He  was  publicly  assassinated  at  Mauleon  in  1550,  during  a 
sermon  which  he  was  delivering  against  the  observance  of 
the  saints'  days.  A  fanatic,  named  Arnould  de  Maytie,  cut 
away  the  props  of  the  pulpit  with  a  hatchet,  and  the  conse- 
quences of  the  fall  were  fatal.  The  son  of  the  assassin  is  said 
to  have  been  rewarded  with  the  bishopric  thus  vacated.^ 

Notwithstanding  this  unfortunate  occurrence,  Francis  still 
showed  symptoms  of  a  wish  to  accommodate  the  differences 
in  religion,  through  the  mediation  of  Melancthon.  At  the 
instance  of  Guillaume  du  Bellay,  Seigneur  de  Langey,  and 
probably,  also,  of  his  brother,  the  bishop  of  Paris,  he  wrote  a 

^  Sleidan,  ix.,  145.     Latomus  to  Erasmus,  Ep.  1283.     E^^l.  Ref^,  i.,  13. 

2  "  L'on  est  a  cet  instant  a  parfaire  le  proces  de  maitre  Gerai'd  ou  j'espere 
que,  la  fin  bien  cogneue,  le  Roy  trouvera  qu'il  est  digne  de  mieulx  que  du 
feu,  et  qu'il  n'a  jamais  teuu  opinion  pour  le  meriter,  ny  quy  sente  nulle  chose 
heretique.  H  y  a  cinque  aus  que  je  le  coMois,  et  croyes  que  si  j'eusse  veu 
nne  chose  douteuse,  je  n'eusse  point  voullRouffrir  si  longuement  une  telle 
poison,  ny  y  employer  mes  amis." — Lettres  de.  Marpi6rite,  i.,  299. 

3  Lettres  de  Marg.,  i.,  267.  Egl.  Rif.,  p.  14.  Maimbourg,  Hist,  du  Cal- 
vinixme,  p.  19. 


38  LIFE  OF  JOHN  OALVIN. 

letter  to  Melancthon  with  his  own  hand,  on  the  28th  of 
June,  1535,  in  which  he  invited  him  to  come  and  confer 
with  some  of  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne.  Melancthon,  it 
appears,  did  not  decline  the  invitation,  but  the  Duke  of 
Saxony  refused  his  permission,  apparently,  however,  not  much 
to  the  regret  of  the  Reformer.^ 

Among  those  who  had  made  themselves  conspicuous  by 
their  opinions  in  religion,  and  who  now  thought  it  high  time 
to  quit  a  country  in  which  they  were  surrounded  with  so 
many  dangers,  were  Olivetan,  Caroli,  Clement  Marot,  and 
Calvin  himself,  who,  accompanied  by  his  friend  Du  Tillet, 
set  off  for  Basle.^  Near  Metz  they  were  robbed  by  one  of 
their  servants ;  but  the  other,  fortunately,  had  ten  crowns, 
which  enabled  them  to  prosecute  their  journey.  At  Basle  a 
new  life  seemed  to  dawn  upon  Calvin.  He  became  person- 
ally acquainted  with  some  of  the  leading  German  Reformers  ; 
as  Wolfgang  Capito,  who,  in  conjunction  with  CEcolampa- 
dius,  had  introduced  the  Reformation  into  that  city,  and 
under  whose  guidance  Calvin  applied  himself  to  the  study  of 
Hebrew.  Here,  also,  he  found  Bucer ;  and  the  learned 
Simon  Grynseus,  who  was  at  that  time  lecturing  both  on 
classical  literature  and  on  the  Scriptures.  Erasmus  was  still 
residing  at  Basle  ;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  Calvin  became 
acquainted  with  him.  Florimond  de  Remond  asserts,  in- 
deed, that  he  was  introduced  to  Erasmus  by  Bucer ;  and 
that,  on  seeing  him,  the  former  exclaimed,  "  I  perceive  a 
great  evil  springing  up  against  the  Church  out  of  her  own 
bosom. ""^  But  this  account  is  not  confirmed  by  any  other 
writer,  and  Jortin^  treats  it  with  contempt  as  a  silly  story, 
of  which,  indeed,  it  has  all  the  appearance. 

At  Basle,  Calvin  put  the  finishing  hand  to  the  first  edition 
of  his  ''  Institutio''  or  "  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion." 
This  was  but  a  slender  manual  in  comparison  with  what  the 
book  afterward  became  ;  and  at  this  time  his  chief  object  in 
publishing  it  was.  to  lay  before  the  world  a  sort  of  confession 
of  faith,  in  order  to  rescue  the  Reformers  from  the  calumnies 
with  which  they  were  assailed.^  The  dedication  to  Francis  I. 
has  been  ranked  as  one  of  the  three  most  famous  prefaces 
which  the  world  has  seen  :  that  of  Casaubon  to  Polybius,  and 
of  De  Thou  to  his  History,  being  the  other  two.  Its  tone, 
however,  was  but  little  fit^  to  convert  Francis,  which  was 

^  M.  Adamus,  Vita  Melancthonis,  p.  336.  ^  Drelincoart,  p.  41. 

^  See  Maimbourg,  p.  59.  *  Life  of  Erasmus,  i.,  555. 

^  See  his  preface  to  the  Psahns. 


HIS  "  INSTITUTES."— VISITS  FERRARA.  39 

the  object  proposed.  In  the  comparison  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Ileformed  with  that  of  the  Popish  Church,  a  bitterness  prevails 
which,  however  j  ustified  by  facts,  was  not  calculated  to  con- 
ciliate. Beza  assumes  that  Francis  never  read  it,  which  is 
very  probable ;  but  his  conjecture  that,  had  he  done  so,  a  great 
blow  would  have  been  inflicted  on  the  Babylonish  strumpet, 
seems  more  doubtful.  This  dedication  is  dated  at  Basle,  in 
August,  1535  ;  but  no  edition  of  that  year  is  now  extant.  It 
is  probable  that  the  work  first  appeared  in  French  ;  but  the 
oldest  edition  known  is  a  Latin  one,  bearing  the  date  of  1536, 
probably  a  translation.^  In  1535  Calvin  also  wrote  a  preface 
to  his  relative  Olivetan's  translation  of  the  Bible,  published 
at  Neufchatel  in  that  year.  It  is  in  the  shape  of  an  Epistle 
to  all  Christian  princes  and  people,  and  forms  the  second  letter 
in  Beza's  collection  of  his  correspondence. 

When  Calvin  first  published  his  "  Institutes,"  he  was  only 
twenty-six ;  yet  it  has  been  remarked  that  he  never  varied 
from  the  principles  he  then  laid  down.  His  views  respecting 
grace  and  election  were  there,  and  even  his  doctrine  of  the 
eucharist,  as  he  proposed  it  in  the  Zurich  "  Consensus"  of 
1549;  though  some#iave  maintained  that  his  earlier  opinions 
on  that  subject  inclined  toward  those  of  Luther.^  But  though 
this  consistency  with  regard  to  doctrine  is  remarkable,  yet, 
after  the  afiair  of  Servetus,  he  seems  to  have  changed  his 
opinions  respecting  discipline  and  church  government.  Slen- 
der as  was  the  first  edition  of  this  work  in  comparison  with  ":->. 
subsequent  ones,  yet  in  the  latter  several  passages  are  omit- 
ted  which  spoke  too  strongly  in  favor  of  toleration.^ 

At  the  end  of  1535,  according  to  Bayle,  or,  as  Dr.  Henry 
conjectures,  in  March,  1536,  Calvin,  after  publishing  a  Latin 
version  of  his  "  Institutes,"  set  off  for  Italy,  with  the  purpose 
of  visiting  the  court  of  Ferrara.     Here  another  lady  of  the 

i  See  P.  Henry,  Leben  Calvins,  i.,  104,  et  seq. 

2  Jos.  Scaliger  says  in  his  "■'  Scaligeriaiia  Secunda:"  "It  is  wonderful, 
that,  though  he  wrote  so  much,  he  never  made  any  retractations.  I  leave 
you  to  judge  whether  he  were  a  great  man." — P.  Henry,  Leben  Calvins^,  i., 
134.  Compare  Beza,  Vita  Calv.  Dr.  Lawrence  has  observed  that  Calvin's 
views  at  this  time  respecting  grace  and  election  were  not  quite  the  same 
as  he  afterward  entertained ;  and  refers  in  proof  to  his  preface  to  Q-livetan's 
Testament.  See  Bampton^becture,  Serm.  vii.,  note  1.  Bretschneider  has 
also  remarked  that,  in  the  first  edition  of  his  "  Institulio,"  Calvin  had  not 
adopted  the  doctrine  of  predestination  {Calvin  et  VEglise  de  Oeneve,  in  the 
Reformations  Almanack,  p.  95,  Fr.  translation,  Geneva,  1822).  But  the 
passage  quoted  by  P.  Henry  (i.,  114)  seems  decisive  on  that  point:  though 
Calvin  had  not  yet,  perhaps,  developed  the  doctrine  so  systematically  as  he 
afterward  did.  The  preface  to  Olivetan's  Testament  will  be  found  among 
Calvin's  Epistles,  No.  58. 

'  See  below,  chap.  x. 


40  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

royal  blood  of  France,  Renee,  the  daughter  of  Louis  XII.  and 
Anne  of  Brittany,  who  in  1527  had  married  Hercules  11,, 
Duke  of  Ferrara,  afforded  protection  and  encouragement  to 
the  persecuted  Reformers.  The  pursuits  of  Renee  were  of 
an  intellectual  character,  like  those  of  Margaret ;  from  whom 
she  is  said  to  have  derived  the  inclination  which  she  felt  toward 
the  new  tenets.  But  Renee's  studies  were  of  a  severer  kind 
than  those  of  Margaret ;  and,  besides  the  languages,  she  ap- 
plied herself  diligently  to  geometry,  astronomy,  and  pl^losophy. 
She  seems,  too,  to  have  been  less  under  the  influence  of  im- 
agination than  Margaret,  and  preserved  to  the  end  of  her  life 
the  religious  tenets  which  she  had  adopted  only  after  a  careful 
inquiry.  At  Ferrara  Calvin  met  Madame  de  Soubise,  who 
had  been  Renee's  governess,  together  with  her  daughter  Anne, 
and  her  son  Jean  de  Parthenai,  who  afterward  became  one 
of  the  leaders  of  the  Protestant  party  in  Fr^ce,  and  with 
whom  Calvin  kept  up  a  correspondence.  Here,  too,  he  found 
Clement  Marot,  who,  after  the  affair  of  the  placards,  had  fled 
first  to  Beam,  and  then  to  Ferrara,  where  he  filled  the  post 
of  secretary  to  the  duchess. 

We  have  scarcely  any  particulars  of  #alvin's  visit  to  Fer- 
rara. He  himself  used  to  say,  that  he  had  entered  Italy  only 
to  leave  it  again.  For  the  sake  of  security,  Calvin  adopted 
during  this  journey  the  name  of  M.  Charles  d'Espeville. 
Though,  under  the  circumstances  of  the  times,  there  may  be 
nothing  positively  blamable  in  the  assumption  of  a  fictitious 
name,  still  the  many  disguises  of  this  sort  which  Calvin  put 
on  must  be  regarded  as  forming  a  trait  in  his  character  which 
strongly  contrasts  with  the  bold  and  open  conduct  of  Luther. 
It  is  ascertained  that  he  adopted  at  least  seven  different 
pseudonyms.  The  second  edition  of  his  ''  Institutid"  was 
published  at  Strasburgh,  in  1539,  under  the  anagram  of  Al- 
cuin.^  In  his  tract  against  Baudouin,  he  acknowledges  that 
he  had  called  himself  Lucanius,  which  Baudouin  converted 
into  Lucianus.  Besides  the  name  of  D'Espeville  assumed  in 
this  journey,  he  called  himself  Deper^an  or  Deparcan,  when 
he  fled  from  Paris.  Other  names  which  he  adopted  at  different 
times,  are  Carolus  Passelius,  Joseph  JJalphurnius,  and  J.  de 
Bonneville.  The  last  is  subscribed  to  a  French  manuscript 
letter,  written  in  June,  1553.^ 

^  Bayle  is  wrong  in  questioning  this  fact. 

^  P.  Henry,  Leben  Calvins,  i.,  Beil.  3.  There  is  a  book  by  Liebe  on  the 
subject  of  Calvin's  pseudonyms,  entitled  ^'Diatribe  de  Pseudonymid  Cal- 
.vini,"  Amst.  1723. 


HIS  ARRIVAL  AT  GENEVA.  41 

Notwithstanding  his  disguise  it  is  asserted  by  some  writers 
that  the  officers  of  the  Inquisition  had  discovered  Calvin's 
presence  at  Ferrara,  and  that  he  was  obliged  to  fly  from  their 
pursuit.^  Dr.  Henry  conjectures  that  he  may  probably  have 
been  driven  from  Italy  by  the  treaty  entered  into  by  the 
Duke  of  Ferrara  with  the  Pope  and  emperor,  in  1536,  by  a 
secret  article  of  which  the  duke  bound  himself  to  banish  all 
the  French  from  his  court.^  Beza,  however,  in  his  "  Life  of 
Calvin,"  alludes  to  neither  of  these  causes.  His  words  would 
rather  see'm  to  imply  that  Calvin  voluntarily  returned  to 
France,  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  his  domestic  afiairs.^ 
His  eldest  brother  Charles  died  in  1536,*  who  being  a  priest, 
and  consequently  unmarried,  the  paternal  inheritance  devolved 
on  Calvin.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  event  which  recalled 
him  to  his  native  town,  which  he'  now  visited  for  the  last 
time.  After  selling  his  estate  and  putting  his  affairs  in  order 
he  quitted  Noyon  forever,  accompanied  by  his  brother  Anthony, 
his  sister  Maria,  and  a  few  other  friends. 

Calvin's  intention  was  to  proceed  either  to  Basle  or  Stras- 
burgh,  but  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  having  penetrated  with 
his  army  into  France,  the  way  through  Lorraine  was  closed, 
and  he  was  forced  to  take  a  circuitous  road  through  Savoy 
and  Geneva ;  a  circumstance  which  decided  the  whole  color 
of  his  future  life.  He  arrived  ^t  Geneva  late  in  the  summer 
of  1536,  and  took  up  his  lodging  at  the  house  of  Viret,  one  of 
the  ministers  of  that  city,  with  the  intention  of  stopping  only 
a  single  night.  His  presence  was  discovered  either  by  Du 
Tiilet  or  Caroli,  by  whom  it  was  communicated  to  Farel.^ 
The  latter  had  in  some  degree  succeeded  in  establishing  the 
Reformation  at  Geneva ;  but  it  was  still  in  a  weak  and  tot- 
tering state,  and  assailed  by  virulent  and  powerful  enemies. 
The  zeal,  almost  amounting  to  fanaticism,  which  characterized 
Farel,  though  well  calculated  to  make  a  sudden  conquest  of 
men's  minds,  lacked  that  prudence  and  discretion  necessary 
to  conciliate  and  retain  them.     Calvin's  reputation  as  a  the- 

^  See  Maimbourg,  p.  62. 

2  LeheJi  Calvins,  i.,  155. 

3  "  Caeterum  ex  Italia,  in  cujus  fines  se  ingressum  esse  dicere  solebat  ut 
inde  exiret,  in  Galliam  regre^sus,  rebus  suis  omnibus  ibi  compositis,"  &c. 
Yet  there  is  a  little  discrepancy  in  Beza's  French  life,  in  which  he  makes 
Calvin  return  to  Basle  after  leaving  Italy  [Vie  de  Calvin,  p.  20,  Geneve, 
16G3.)  *  Des  May,  apud  Drelincourt,  p.  234. 

5  Calvin  [Prof,  in  Psalmos)  points  to  the  person  as  one  who  had  after- 
ward returned  to  Romanism,  According  to  Maimbourg  (p.  59),  Du  Tiilet, 
while  residing  with  Calvin  at  Basle,  had  been  reconverted  by  his  brother, 
the  registrar,  and  induced  to  return  to  Paris.  But  it  was  most  probably 
Caroli  who  discovered  Calvin's  arrival.   See  Kirchhofer,  Leben  F/ircls,  i.,  198 


42  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ologian  was  now  pretty  well  established  ;  and  Farel,  who  felt, 
and  always  candidly  acknowledged,  his  superior  abilities  and 
learning,  upon  hearing  of  his  arrival,  immediately  desired  to 
secure  his  services.  He  therefore  called  upon  the  traveler, 
and  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  remain  at  Geneva.  Cal- 
vin at  first  excused  himself,  alleging  that  he  did  not  wish  to 
accept  a  public  office,  and  had  determined  to  devote  his  life  to 
retirement  and  study.  Finding  persuasion  of  no  avail,  Farel 
assumed  the  air  and  prerogatives  of  an  apostle  ;  and  with  that 
manner  and  voice  which  had  often  inspired  thousands  with 
awe,  threatened  Calvin  with  God's  curse  upon  all  his  under- 
takings if  he  refused  his  aid  in  so  pressing  a  conjuncture. 
Calvin  was  so  alarmed  and  shaken  by  this  denunciation,  that 
he  abandoned  his  projected  journey,  as  if,  he  says,  God  had 
laid  his  hand  upon  him  out  of  heaven.*  But  though  he  con- 
sented to  remain,  he  would  not  bind  himself  to  accept  any 
definite  charge. 

Such  was  the  fortuitous  origin  of  Calvin's  connection  with 
Geneva,  which  was  destined  to  have  such  important  results. 

1  Preface  to  the  Psalms. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Some  Account  of  Geneva — Farel's  Arrival  there — Sketch  of  Farel's  Life — 
His  Labors  at  Geneva  and  Expulsion  from  that  City — Froment  succeeds 
him — Disturbances — Return  of  the  Bishop — Guy  Furbity — Dissolution  of 
the  Monasteries — Reformation  established — Genevese  Constitution — 
Calvin  joins  Farel — Disputation  of  Lausanne — Anabaptists — Caroli — Ac- 
cuses Calvin  of  Arianism — Caroli's  Banishment  and  Apostasy — Calvin 
and  Farel's  Orthodoxy  suspected — Their  Scheme  of  Discipline — Manners 
of  the  Genevese — They  revolt  against  the  Discipline — French  Intrigues 
— Synod  of  Lausanne — Inflexibility  of  Farel  and  Calvin — Their  Banish- 
ment from  Geneva — They  appeal  to  the  Synod  of  Zurich — Berne  inter- 
cedes for  them. 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  understand  Calvin's  position 
at  Geneva,  it  will  be  necessary  to  explain  the  state  of  parties 
there,  and  the  progress  v^^hich  the  Reformation  had  made  at 
the  time  of  his  arrival. 

Geneva,  though  nominally  a  fief  of  the  German  empire, 
had  in  reality  been  governed  for  several  centuries  by  a  bishop,^ 
whose  temporal  authority  was,  however,  controlled  by  certain 
lay  assessors,  as  well  as  by  the  citizens,  without  whose  con- 
sent, in  general  assembly,  he  could  do  nothing. **  The  bishop 
acknowledged  the  Count  of  Geneva,  or,  rather,  of  the  Gene- 
vois,  as  his  feudal  lord ;  and  an  officer  called  the  Vidomne 
(vice-dominus)  administered  the  law  in  the  bishop's  name, 
but  as  the  representative  of  the  count.  The  house  of  Savoy, 
having  acquired  the  rights  of  the  Counts  of  Geneva  by  the 
cession  of  Odon  de  Villars,  in  1401,  endeavored  also  to  get 
possession  of  the  temporal  rights  of  the  bishop.  No  serious 
attempts,  however,  appear  to  have  been  made  on  the  inde- 
pendence of  Geneva,  till  the  time  of  Charles  III.,  who,  in 
1504,  succeeded  to  the  just  Duke  Philibert.  Charles  found 
a  willing  tool  in  Bishop  John,  a  natural  son  of  Francis  of 
Savoy.  This  prelate  ceded  all  his  temporal  rights  to  the 
Duke  of  Savoy  ;  but  the  general  assembly  having  annulled 
his  proceeding,  a  bitter  and  bloody  persecution  ensued.  The 
city  was  divided  into  two  factions ;  that  of  the  Mamelukes, 
which  espoused  the  pretensions  of  Savoy ;  and  that  of  the 

1  In  an  assembly  of  the  burgesses  in  1420,  it  was  stated  that  the  city  had 
then  been  for  more  than  four  centuries  under  episcopal  government.  Spon, 
i.,  171.  2  Bonnivard,  apnd  Ruchat,  i.,  319.     Gerdesius,  ii.,  364. 


44  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

patriots  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Eidgenossen.  In  order 
to  shelter  themselves  from  the  aggressions  of  the  duke,  who 
frequently  sought  to  attain  his  object  by  force  of  arms,  the 
Genevese  concluded  a  treaty  of  alliance  and  fellow-citizenship 
with  Friburgh;  to  which,  in  1526,  they  added  another  with 
Berne  In  the  latter  of  these  cities  the  Reformation  had  al- 
ready been  established  through  the  exertions  of  Berthold  Hal- 
ler,  who  began  to  preach  there  in  1 522  ;^  and  it  was  this  con- 
nection with  Berne  which  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Reforma- 
tion at  Geneva.  But  before  giving  an  account  of  its  progress 
there,  it  will  be  better  to  anticipate  a  little,  and  shortly  to 
relate  the  issue  of  the  struggle  with  the  house  of  Savoy. 

Charles  continuing  to  annoy  Geneva,  Berne  and  Friburgh 
took  the  field  in  1530,  in  defense  of  their  ally.  The  duke 
was  compelled  to  sue  for  a  peace,  the  articles  of  which,  how- 
ever, he  contrived  to  evade.  A  few  years  afterward  the 
progress  of  the  Reformation  among  the  Genevese  not  only 
deprived  them  of  the  alliance  of  Friburgh,  but  increased  the 
displeasure  of  Charles ;  and  in  1535  the  abolition  of  Popery 
at  Geneva,  and  formal  suppression  of  the  bishopric,  roused 
him  to  still  more  vigorous  attacks.  For  some  time  the  Gene- 
vese had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  war  unaided  ;  but  early  in  1 536 
Berne  sent  an  army  of  7000  men  to  their  assistance,  which 
overran  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  and  in  eleven  days  appeared  before 
the  gates  of  Geneva.  The  Savoyards  fled  without  striking  a 
blow  ;  but  the  success  of  the  victors  was  much  facilitated  by 
the  circumstance  of  France  having,  at  the  very  same  time, 
declared  war  against  Savoy.  Francis  I.  had  eagerly  laid  hold 
on  the  hesitation  of  Charles  to  allow  the  French  troops  to 
pass  through  his  dominions,  as  a  pretext,  which  he  had  long 
been  seeking,  for  making  war  upon  him.  In  two  months  the 
duke  was  completely  stripped  of  his  dominions,  which  he  never 
regained,  but  died  in  exile  in  1553  f  and  thus  Geneva  was 
finally  delivered  from  all  apprehensions  from  that  quarter. 

The  profligate  and  tyrannical  conduct  of  Peter  de  la 
Beaume,  who,  in  1522,  had  succeeded  to  John  of  Savoy  in 
the  see  of  Geneva,  contributed  to  dispose  the  Genevese  to- 
ward the  Reformation.  At  first,  indeed,  that  prelate  seemed 
to  favor  the  patriot  party ;  and  when,  in  1527,  he  found  it 
expedient  to  retire  from  Geneva,  in  order  to  avoid  the  anger 
of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  whom  he  had  offended  by  pardoning 
some  criminals,^  he  formally  ceded  his  civil  jurisdiction  to  the 

1  Scaltetus,  apiicl  V.  der  Hardf,  p.  49,  2  Rncliat,  iv.,  33. 

^  'Bessaa,  Me  moires  EccMs.,  cited  by  Grenus,  Fnigm.  Biogr.,  p.  145. 


SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  GENEVA.  45 

magistrates  of  Geneva.  In  his  exile,  however,  he  reconciled 
himself  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  endeavored  to  recall  the  ces- 
sion he  had  made  of  his  temporal  rights,  and  early  in  1528 
even  caused  a  revocation  of  it  to  be  fixed  on  the  church 
doors ;  but  this  impotent  attempt  only  excited  the  ridicule 
of  the  Genevese.  In  the  same  year  the  Mameluke  party  , 
having  persuaded  the  Archbishop  of  Vienne,  the  metropolitan  / 
of  Geneva,  to  excommunicate  that  city,  the  indignation  of  ^. 
the  other  citizens  was  roused  to  such  a  pitch,  that,  in  a  gen-  / 
eral  assembly  held  on  the  29th  of  December,  they  forbade, 
under  rigorous  penalties,  the  future  recognition  of  the  arch- 
bishop and  his  spiritual  court,  and  even  refused  to  obey  any 
letters  apostolical  which  might  be  addressed  to  them  by  their 
own  bishop.^  Meanwhile,  in  conjunction  with  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  Peter  de  la  Beaume  resorted  to  all  methods  of  annoy- 
ing the  Genevese.  It  was  even  discovered,  from  an  intercept- 
ed letter,  that  he  had  joined  the  league  of  the  Gentilhommes 
de  la  Cuillere,  or  gentlemen  of  the  spoon  :  a  conspiracy 
hatched  among  some  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  Pays 
de  Vaud,  with  the  design  of  blockading  Geneva  and  starving 
the  inhabitants ;  the  members  of  which  league,  assisted  by 
their  dependents,  waylaid,  plundered,  and  in  some  cases  even 
murdered,  such  of  the  Genevese  as  ventured  beyond  their 
walls.  It  was  by  two  members  of  this  league  that  Bonni- 
vard,  the  prior  of  St.  Victor,  was  seized  in  1536,  and,  after 
being  robbed,  led  to  the  Castle  of  Chillon,  where,  with  the 
sanction  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  he  was  detained  a  prisoner, 
till  the  place  was  captured  by  the  Bernese  in  March,  1536.^ 
The  hatred  inspired  by  this  conduct  of  the  bishop  was  ag- 
gravated by  the  remembrance  of  his  violence  and  profligacy, 
of  which  he  had  given  a  signal  instance  shortly  before  his 
departure  from  Geneva,  by  openly  carrying  off  a  young  lady 
of  good  family,  whom  he  detained  in  his  palace  till  compelled 
to  restore  her  by  the  mob  which  surrounded  it.'^ 
•  But  though  these  occurrences  tended  to  shake  the  allegi- 
ance of  the  Genevese  toward  their  ecclesiastical  government, 
and,  consequently,  toward  the  papal  power  generally,  it  was 
not  till  1532  that  there  appeared  among  them  any  open  man-  \/ 
ifestations  in  favor  of  the  Reformed  doctrines.  It  having 
been  announced  in  that  year  that  Pope  Clement  VII.  was 
about  to  publish  a  Jubilee,  placards  were  discovered  in  difl^r- 

1  Ruchat,  ii.,  27,  et  seq. 

2  R6giUre^  de  Geneve,  1  Avril,  1536.   Spon,  i.,  141. 

3  lluciiiit,  ii.,  3x\ 


46  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ent  parts  of  Geneva,  promising  a  general  pardon  of  sins  on 
the  sole  conditions  of  repentance,  and  a  lively  faith  in  the 
promises  of  Christ.  Peter  Wernly,  a  canon  of  St.  Peter's,  but 
a  native  of  Friburgh,  having  surprised  one  John  Goulas  in  the 
act  of  affixing  one  of  these  placards  to  a  pillar  in  that  church, 
struck  him,  and  drew  his  sword.  Goulas  also  drew  ;  a  com- 
bat ensued,  and  Wernly  was  wounded  in  the  arm.  The  coun- 
cil of  Friburgh  remonstrated  :  that  of  Geneva  replied  that 
these  proceedings  had  occurred  without  their  knowledge,  but 
added  that  they  were  resolved,  like  their  allies  at  Friburgh, 
to  live  in  the  ancient  religion ;  and,  in  proof  of  their  sincer- 
ity, prohibited  the  placards  by  sound  of  trumpet.^ 

In  the  month  of  October  of  the^same  year,  there  entered 
Geneva  a  little  man  of  mean  appearance,  with  a  vulgar  face, 
a  narrow  forehead,  a  pale,  but  sun-burned  complexion,  and  a 
chin  on  which  appeared  two  or  three  tufts  of  a  red  and  ill- 
combed  beard,  but  whose  fiery  eye  and  expressive  mouth  an- 
nounced to  the  close  observer  a  more  remarkable  character 
than  his  general  appearance  seemed  to  indicate.^  He  rode 
a  fine  white  horse,  and  was  accompanied  by  another  man, 
mounted  on  a  black  one.  It  was  William  Farel,  and  his 
friend  Anthony  Saunier.  They  had  been  attending  a  synod 
of  the  Waldenses  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  whence,  at  the 
instance  of  the  Bernese  council^  and  well  furnished  with  cre- 
dentials and  letters  of  recommendation,  they  had  bent  their 
steps  toward  Geneva,  to  put  their  sickles  into  the  harvest  of 
the  Lord. 

Farel's  history  is  so  bound  up  with  that  of  Calvin  that  it 
will  be  proper  to  give  a  short  account  of  him.  He  was  born 
at  Gap,  in  Dauphine,  in  the  year  1489,  and  was  descended 
from  a  noble  family  which  had  some  possessions  in  that  prov- 
ince. The  blind  and  unreasoning  enthusiasm  which  formed 
the  salient  feature  in  his  character,  and  which  constantly 
demanded  an  object,  had  vented  itself  in  early  life  in  a  super- 
stitious observance  of  the  more  ascetic  parts  of  papistry,  and 
in  an  extraordinary  veneration  for  the  Pope's  person,  whom 
he  regarded  not  merely  as  an  agent  appointed  by  God,  but 
even  as  a  sort  of  divinity.^  The  nature  of  his  education 
tended  at  first  to  increase  this  disposition.     His  early  youth 

1  Ruchat,  iii.,  174.     Spon,  i.,  463. 

2  Le  Chroniqueur.  Soeur  Jeanne  de  Jussie  records  Farel's  appearance  at 
Geneva  with  a  contempt  inspired  probably  by  his  person  :  •'  Au  mois  d'Oc- 
tobre  vint  a  Geneve  un  chetif  malheareux  predicant  nomme  maitre  Guil- 
laume." — Kirchhofer,  Lebeti  Farels,  i.,  157. 

3  Kirchhofer,  i,  3. 


SKETCH  OF  FAREL'S  LIFE.  17 

was  a  little  anterior  to  the  revival  of  sound  learning  ;  and  at 
the  High  School  of  Paris  he  became  imbued  w^ith  the  scholas- 
tic divinity  and  still  more  wretched  philosophy  of  the  age.  At 
a  later  period,  however,  he  was  fortunate  enough  to  become 
the  pupil  of  Le  Fevre  d'Etaples,  at  whose  recommendation 
he  began  to  study  the  Bible ;  and,  in  order  to  understand  it 
the  better,  applied  himself  to  the  acquirement  of  Greek  and 
Hebrew.  Farel  was  soon  struck  with  the  difference  between 
the  precepts  of  Scripture  and  the  practice  of  the  Church  ; 
and  the  result  was,  his  thorough  conversion  to  the  tenets  of 
the  Reformation.  Meanwhile  he  had  become,  as  we  have 
seen,  regent  of  the  college  of  Cardinal  Le  Moine  :  a  post  of 
distinguished  honor,  and  subsequently  filled  by  Turnebus,  Bu- 
chanan, Muretus,  and  other  eminent  men.  When  the  perse- 
cutions broke  out  he  was  forced  to  abandon  this  office,  and, 
after  a  short  residence  at  Meaux,  repaired  in  February,  1524, 
to  Basle.  He  had  been  there  but  a  few  days,  when  his  rest- 
less zeal  led  him  to  publish  a  disputation,  in  which  he  en- 
gaged to  maintain  thirteen  theses  against  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics. The  bishop's  vicar  and  the  rector  of  the  academy  did 
all  they  could  to  hinder  it,  but  Farel  obtained  the  permission 
of  the  municipal  council,  and  the  disputation  took  place  on 
the  15th  of  February.^ 

Farel  had  come  to  Basle  brimful  of  indignation  against 
Erasmus,  who  felt  an  aversion  to  this  class  of  hot-headed 
Reformers,  which  he  was  at  no  pains  to  conceal.  "  I  abhor 
the  evangelists,"  said  he,  "  as  for  other  reasons,  so  because  it 
is  through  them  that  literature  is  declining  in  every  place,  and 
entertained  with  coldness  and  contempt,  and  on  the  point  of 
perishing  ;  and  without  letters  what  is  life  ?  They  love  money 
and  women,  and  despise  all  other  things.  We  have  been 
stunned  long  enough  with  the  cry  of  Gospel,  Gospel,  Gospel. 
We  want  Gospel  manners.''^ 

To  a  man  of  cultivated  taste,  like  Erasmus,  it  must  have 
been  painful  to  witness  the  havoc  committed  by  the  more 
fanatical  Reformers.  In  a  letter  to  Pirchheimer,  describing 
the  progress  of  the  Reformation  at  Basle,  he  complains  that 
pictures,  statues,  and  other  works  of  art,  no  matter  what  their 
merit  or  value,  were  sacrificed  by  their  remorseless  and  in- 
discriminating  zeal.^  The  charge  of  discouraging  literature 
must,  however,  be  confined  to  the  more  violent  section  of  the 
Reformers.      Carlostadt,  in  Luther's  absence,   emptied   the 

1  Gerdesius,  ii.,  269.    These  theses  will  be  found  in  Kirchhofer,  i.,  22. 

2  Joitin,  EranniHfi,  i.,  442.  3  See  Ep.  1048. 


48  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

schools,  and  bade  all  to  labor  with  their  hands  ;  but  Luther 
himself  knew  the  value  of  sound  learning  as  the  handmaid 
of  pure  theology,  and  considered  it  the  harbinger  of  all  signal 
revelations  of  the  word  of  God.^  Melancthon,  too,  was  one 
of  the  most  elegant  scholars  of  his  age,  and  in  his  lectures  on 
Terence,  delivered  at  the  University  of  Tubingen,  had  first 
pointed  out  the  meters  of  that  author,  whose  verses  had  pre- 
viously been  printed  like  prose.^ 

Piqued  by  the  slights  and  neglects  which  Farel  publicly 
manifested  toward  him,  Erasmus  is  said  to  have  sought  an 
interview  with  him,  in  which  he  asked  the  reason  of  such 
conduct,  and  why  he  had^iven  him  the  name  of  Balaam.  A 
conversation  ensued,  in  which  Luther's  dogmas  were  dis- 
cussed ;  and  after  several  sallies  on  both  sides,  they  parted, 
as  might  have  been  expected,  worse  friends  than  ever.^  The 
impetuosity  of  Farel,  to  whom  discretion  was  an  utter  stranger, 
led  him  to  attack  Erasmus  publicly.  He  charged  him  with 
want  of  courage  to  avow  the  true  doctrine,  though  he  secretly 
entertained  it,  and  accused  him  of  a  design  to  repress  the  gos- 
pel, then  just  bursting  into  day.  After  a  few  attempts  at 
expostulation,  Erasmus  retired  from  a  contest  with  so  violent 
an  adversary,  for  which  he  was  naturally  disqualified.  He 
avenged  himself,  after  his  own  fashion,  by  quietly  fixing  the 
nickname  of  Phallicus*  on  Farel,  and  by  using  all  his  influ- 
ence to  get  him  expelled  from  Basle,  in  which  he  succeeded. 

On  leaving  Basle,  where  he  had  remained  only  a  few 
months,  Farel  proceeded  to  Montbelliard.  Here  the  anger 
of  Erasmus  still  pursued  him.  In  letters  to  the  bishop's 
official,  at  Besangon,  and  to  other  friends,  he  painted  Farel  as 
a  bold,  lying,  and  turbulent  man  ;  at  the  same  time  throwing 
out  a  hint  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  use  compulsion 
toward  him.^  It  is  probable  that  Erasmus's  dislike  of  the 
man  led  him  to  exaggerate  his  faults.  Yet  we  have  the 
evidence  of  one  of  FareFs  own  friends,  and  a  m.an  of  truly 
moderate  and  Christian  principles,  to  his  want  of  charity  and 
gentleness.  CEcolampadius,  writing  to  him  at  Montbelliard 
says,  "  I  questioned  N respecting  your  meekness,  than 

i  M.  Adamus,  Vita  Lutheri,  p.  164. 

2  Ib.,Vita  Melancthonis,  p.  330.  3  Ruchat,  i.,  584.  App. 

*  Probably  from  some  manifestation  of  those  amorous  propensities  which 
led  Farel  in  his  old  age  to  marry  quite  a  girl. 

5  Kirchhofer,  Lehen  Fareh,  i.,  22.  See  also  Erasmus's  letters  to  the 
Bishop  of  Rochester,  and  to  Brugnarius  at  Montbelliard,  in  the  autumn  of 
1524  (Epp.  698  and  707).  From  the  latter  it  appears  that  one  of  the  tonics 
of  Erasmus's  dispute  with  Farel  had  turned  on  the  nature  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  whether  that  person  of  the  Trinity  outfht  to  be  invoked. 


SKETCH  OF  FAREL'S  LIFE.  49 

which  nothing  is  more  becoming  to  a  Christian,  not  to  say 
an  apostle.  But  though  he  wonderfully  praised  your  inde- 
fatigable industry,  your  unquenchable  ardor,  and  your  toler- 
able success,  he  added  that  you  poured  out  torrents  of  re- 
proaches upon  the  priests.  Forsooth,  I  am  not  ignorant  of 
their  deserts,  nor  in  what  colors  they  ought  to  be  painted ; 
yet  with  your  leave  I  would  say,  as  a  friend,  and  brother  to 
a  brother,  that  you  do  not  always  seem  to  be  mindful  of 
your  office.  Your  mission  is  to  evangelize,  and  not  to  curse. 
I  pardon,  nay,  I  praise  your  zeal,  provided  it  be  not  deficient 
in  gentleness.  Labor,  my  brother,  that  my  spirit  may  be 
rejoiced  with  this  news  also  ;  that  at  the  proper  time  you 
pour  in  the  wine  and  oil ;  that  you  prove  yourself  an  evan- 
gelist, and  not  a  tyrannical  lawgiver.' 

Farel  remained  but  a  short  time  at  Montbelliard  ;  but 
whether  he  was  driven  thence  by  the  machinations  of  Eras- 
mus is  uncertain.  According  to  an  old  story,  which  rests, 
however,  on  no  certain  foundation,  he  was  forced  to  fly  for 
having  snatched  the  relics  of  St.  Anthony  from  a  priest  who 
was  bearing  them  in  solemn  procession,  and  thrown  them 
into  the  water."^ 

Strasburgh  was  then  the  common  refuge  of  the  persecuted, 
and  thither  Farel  bent  his  steps.  In  this  town  he  dwelt  more 
than  a  year,  enjoying  the  friendship  of  Bucer  and  Capito,  and 
living  in  the  latter's  house.  In  October,  1526,  he  revisited 
Basle  ;  and  before  the  end  of  that  year,  assuming  the  name 
of  Ursinus,  and  the  profession  of  a  schoolmaster,  proceeded 
into  Switzerland  as  a  missionary  of  the  gospel,  without  any 
fixed  cure  or  salary.  In  March,  1527,  the  council  of  Berne 
sanctioned  his  preaching  in  the  district  of  Aigle  till  the  in- 
cumbent should  have  provided  an  efficient  curate.  This  was 
the  first  time  that  the  gospel  had  been  preached  in  Switzer- 
land in  the  French  tongue  ;  and  in  spite  of  the  repulsive 
severity  of  his  doctrines,  and  the  opposition  he  experienced 
from  the  court  of  the  Bishop  of  Lausanne,  Farel  succeeded 
in  making  some  converts.  He  was  indeed  an  excellent  field- 
preacher,  for  which  his  undaunted  boldness,  his  fiery  zeal, 
and  his  trumpet-toned  voice,  admirably  qualified  him.  In 
June,  1530,  he  received  a  formal  commission  from  the  Ber- 
nese government  to  preach  in  all  places  subject  to  their  juris- 
diction.^ 

From  this  period  till  his  arrival  at  Geneva  in  1532,  Farel's 

1  M.  Adamus,  Viia  Farelli,  p.  115. 

2  Kirchhofer,  i.,  48.  »  lb.,  p.  98. 

C 


50  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

labors  in  spreading  the  gospel  were  chiefly  exerted  at  Neuf- 
ch&tel  and  in  the  surrounding  neighborhood.  To  detail  these 
does  not  belong  to  the  present  subject.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that 
they  were  often  attended  with  risk  of  life,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  brought  upon  him  severe  personal  chastisement.  The 
council  of  Berne  was  sometimes  obliged  to  admonish  him  to 
be  discreet ;  and  Zwingli  himself,  a  little  before  his  death, 
exhorted  him  not  to  expose  himself  rashly,  but  to  reserve  him- 
self for  the  further  service  of  the  Lord.^  His  bitter  and  per- 
severing attacks  upon  the  Romish  clergy  obtained  him  the 
name  of  "  the  Scourge  of  the  Priests." 

The  arrival  of  such  a  man  at  Geneva,  where  he  was  well 
known  by  reputation,  caused,  as  may  be  imagined,  no  little 
consternation,  not  only  among  the  clergy,  but  even  in  the 
council.  The  latter  had,  indeed,  been  awakened  to  a  sense 
of  the  ignorance,  absurdity,  and  profligacy  of  the  priesthood  ; 
and  perceiving  the  growth  and  tendency  of  public  opinion, 
had  exhorted  them  to  preach  the  gospel  instead  of  retailing 
the  ridiculous  legends  and  fables  with  which  they  were 
accustomed  to  amuse  their  auditory  :  but  political  motives, 
especially  the  influence  of  Friburgh,  and  the  dread  of  losing 
the  alliance  of  that  city,  restrained  them  from  openly  encour- 
aging the  Reformers. 

The  day  after  their  arrival,  Farel  and  Saunier  were  visited 
at  their  lodgings  by  numbers  of  the  citizens,  whom  they  ad- 
dressed on  religious  topics.  Among  these  was  Ami  Perrin, 
a  distinguished  citizen  of  Geneva,  and  one  of  the  earliest  and 
most  ardent  promoters  of  the  Reformation,  but  whom  there 
will  be  frequent  occasion  to  mention  in  the  course  of  this 
narrative,  as  having  subsequently  become  one  of  Calvin's 
chief  opponents.  The  news  of  these  proceedings  reached  the 
council,  who  summoned  Fare]  and  Saunier  to  their  presence, 
censured  them  as  disturbers  of  the  peace,  and  ordered  them 
to  depart  the  city.  The  former  replied  that  he  was  no 
trumpet  of  sedition,  but  a  preacher  of  the  truth,  for  which  he 
was  prepared  to  sacrifice  not  only  his  labor  but  his  life. 
He  then  produced  the  credentials  with  which  the  Bernese 
had  furnished  him,  and  in  which  they  requested  their  allies 
to  receive  him  with  kindness,  and  to  listen  to  his  doctrine. 
This  somewhat  mollified  the  council ;  who  permitted  him  to 
retire  to  his  lodgings,  but  forbade  him  to  preach  his  new 
doctrines.* 

1  Kirchhofei-,  i.,  147. 

3  Ruchat,  iii.,  76.    Kirchhofer. 


FAREL'S  LABORS  AT  GENEVA.  51 

Scarce  had  Farel  and  Saunier  reached  home,  when  they 
received  a  summons  to  attend  a  disputation  at  the  house  of 
the  Abbe  de  Beaumont,  the  vicar-general.  Nothing,  how- 
ever, was  further  from  the  intention  of  the  Roman  CathoHc 
priests  than  discussion.  They  had  been  heard  to  say,  "  Si 
disputetur,  totum  nostrum  mysterium  destruetur  .•"  "  If  we 
argue,  our  trade  is  gone."  We  have  the  evidence  of  a  bigoted 
Cathohc  that  it  was  the  intention  of  this  meeting  to  take 
Farel' s  life.'  The  council,  however,  suspected  the  violence 
of  the  clergy  ;  and  lest  their  conduct  toward  Farel  should  oc- 
casion a  quarrel  with  Berne,  they  sent  two  of  the  syndics  to 
accompany  and  protect  him,  who  made  the  ecclesiastics  swear 
that  they  would  do  the  ministers  no  injury,  though  they  should 
maintain  their  doctrines  against  them.  Farel  and  his  friend 
were  also  accompanied  to  the  meeting  by  Olivetan,  who  was 
now  living  in  a  gentleman's  family  at  Geneva,  in  the  capacity 
of  tutor,  and  who  secretly  employed  himself  in  furthering  the 
Reformation.  On  their  road  they  were  assailed  with  abuse, 
and  when  they  arrived  at  the  place  of  meeting,  they  were  re- 
ceived with  the  greatest  insolence  by  De  Vegia^  the  bishop's 
officer.  He  reproached  them  with  having  the  appearance  of 
robbers,  and  treated  them  scornfully  as  laymen,  who  could 
neither  have  knowledge  nor  authority  to  preach.  When 
Farel  spoke  of  a  call  from  above,  De  Vegia  required  him  to 
prove  it  by  a  miracle,  as  Moses  did  before  Pharaoh.  His 
appearance  in  the  assembly,  the  members  of  which  carried 
weapons  concealed  under  their  clothes,  was  the  signal  for  up- 
roar and  abuse.  "  Come,  Farel,  thou  filthy  devil,"  exclaimed 
the  canons,  "  art  thou  baptized  ?  Whence  art  thou  ?  Why 
dost  thou  creep  about  troubling  the  world  ?  Who  invited  thee 
hither  ]  Who  gives  thee  power  to  preach  ?  Art  thou  not 
he  that  has  spread  the  Lutheran  heresy  in  Aigle  and  Neuf- 
chatel,  seducing  the  people  all  around  ?  Wherefore  comest 
thou  to  sow  the  seed  of  heresy  here,  and  in  all  the  land]" 

"  Sirs,"  replied  Farel,  "  I  have  been  baptized  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  am  no  devil. 
I  go  about  announcing  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  for  our  sins 
upon  the  cross,  and  again  rose  from  the  dead  to  further  our 
salvation.  Whoever  believes  in  Him  shall  receive  eternal 
life,  but  unbelievers  shall  go  into  everlasting  perdition .  I  am 
sent  by  God,  our  gracious  Father,  as  a  messenger  of  Christ, 
and  am  bound  to  preach  Him  to  all  who  will  Usten  ;  and  with 
all  my  power  have  I  striven  that  every  one  should  receive 

1  Jeanne  de  Jussie,  quoted  by  Kirchhofer,  i.,  158. 


52  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Him.  On  a  journey  have  I  come  hither  to  see  if  any  one 
will  hear  me  ;  and  am  ready  to  dispute  with  you,  and  to  give 
an  account  of  my  faith  and  of  my  ministry.  It  is  for  this,  I 
hear,  that  you  have  called  me  before  you.  So  long  as  it  shall 
please  you  to  hear  me  quietly,  I  will  maintain  unto  the  death 
that  what  I  have  preached,  and  what  I  daily  preach,  is  the 
pure  truth,  and  no  heresy,  as  ye  charge  me.  I  go  not  forth 
in  the  name  of  man,  but  of  God,  who  hath  chosen  me  to  be 
His  minister,  and  am  far  from  designing  to  disturb  this  city, 
as  ye  object  to  me.  Elias  said  to  King  Ahab,  '  It  is  thou,  and 
not  I,  who  disturbest  all  Israel ;'  and  so  may  I  say  unto  you, 
it  is  not  I  who  bring  the  disturbance,  but  ye  and  your  follow- 
ers, who  disturb  not  only  this  town,  but  all  the  world,  by  your 
teaching,  and  your  worldly  laws,  and  your  unholy  lives. "^ 

By  this  speech  the  rage  of  the  ecclesiastics  was  roused  to 
the  highest  pitch.  One  of  the  canons  exclaimed,  in  the  words 
of  Caiaphas,  ''  Bla?>])hemavit ;  non  amjolius  i?idigemus  testi- 
bus  :  reus  est  mortis  .•"  "  He  hath  blasphemed  ;  we  want  no 
further  evidence ;  he  deserves  to  die:"  adding,  in  French,  ''au 
Rhone,  au  Rhone!'''  words  which,  at  Geneva,  conveyed  no 
obscure  sentence  of  death.  Farel  replied,  "  Speak  the  words 
of  God  and  not  of  Caiaphas."  Hereupon  the  whole  assembly 
called  out  to  kill  the  dog  of  a  Lutheran.  Farel  was  reviled, 
struck,  and  spit  upon  ;  nay,  one  of  the  vicar-general's  servants 
even  shot  at  him,  but  without  doing  him  any  harm.  From 
this  dangerous  situation  he  was  rescued  by  one  of  the  syndics, 
who  threatened  to  sound  the  tocsin  and  raise  the  people,  unless 
the  assembly  desisted  from  further  violence.  He  and  Saunier 
were,  however,  ordered  by  the  episcopal  council  to  leave  Gen- 
eva ;  and  early  on  the  following  morning,  the  4th  of  October, 
escorted  by  a  large  party  of  friends  to  protect  them  from  insult, 
among  whom  were  Ami  Perrin,  Claude  Bernard,  and  Jean 
Goulas,  they  proceeded  to  the  water's  edge,  and  getting  into 
a  boat,  crossed  the  lake  to  a  spot  between  Lausanne  and 
Morsee.  Thence  they  proceeded  to  Orbe,  where  they  arrived 
in  safety.^ 

Farel 's  expulsion  from  Geneva  damped  for  a  while  the  ardor 
of  the  Reformers  in  that  city.  He  himself,  however,  did  not 
abandon  his  hopes.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Orbe  he  found  a 
young  man  named  Antoine  Froment,  a  native  of  Dauphine, 
like  himself,  who,  at  his  request,  consented  to  go  to  Geneva, 
and  carry  on  the  work  which  had  been  begun.  Froment 
arrived  there  in  November,  but  Avas  received  with  such  cold- 

-  Kirchhofer,  i.,  160.  ^  Rucbat,  iii.,  179.     Spon,  i.,  468. 


FROMENT  SUCCEEDS  FAREL.  53 

ness  and  distrust  that  he  was  on  the  point  of  abandoning  his 
enterprise.  He  was  preparing  to  leave  the  place,  when  it 
occurri'd  to  him  that  he  might  obtain  his  object  by  a  pious 
fraud.  He  hired  a  large  room,  set  up  a  school,  and  gave  out 
that  he  would  teach  people  of  all  ages  to  read  and  write  in  a 
month,  together  with  other  accomplishments.  When  he  was 
well  established,  he  began  to  talk  to  his  pupils,  many  of  whom 
were  of  ripe  age,  on  rehgious  topics,  and  thus  excited  a  spirit  of 
inquiry.  Several  little  books  of  controversy  appeared,  and  were 
read  with  avidity.  The  labors  of  Froment  were  assisted  by  the 
serm.ons  of  Boquet,  a  Cordelier,  but  at  heart  a  Protestant. 

On  the  last  day  of  1532,  some  of  the  Reformers  were  drmk- 
ing  with  the  vicar  of  the  Magdalen,  when  a  dispute  arose  con- 
cerning Froment's  doctrines.  The  vicar  undertook  to  refute 
them  from  Scripture,  and  the  party  adjourned  to  his  house, 
where  several  other  priests  were  assembled.  Instead  of  the 
sacred  volume,  however,  the  vicar,  amid  the  jeers  of  his  oppo- 
nents, produced  Nicholas  de  Lyra,  a  scholastic  writer.  The 
scene  grew  warm.  Much  abuse  was  uttered  on  both  sides. 
One  of  the  priests  laid  his  hand  on  his  sword ;  others  ran  to 
sound  the  tocsin.  A  mob  collected,  and  it  was  with  difficulty 
that  the  syndics  were  able  to  appease  the  tumult.  In  the 
evenhig  the  council  forbade  these  sorts  of  disputes,  and  ordered 
Froment  to  leave  the  city.^ 

On  the  following  day,  however,  being  the  1st  of  January, 
1533,  after  hearing  a  sermon  by  Boquet,  the  people  went  in 
such  numbers  to  Froment's  house  that  the  apartment  where 
he  nsed  to  preach  ^vas  not  large  enough  to  contain  them.  A 
cry  arose,  "aw  Molard/"^  Those  nearest  Froment  carried 
him  off  to  the  market-place,  where  they  placed  him  on  a  fish- 
wife's bench,  the  crowd  exclaiming,  "  Preach  to  us  the  word 
of  God  I"  Froment  accordingly  began,  nor  would  he  desist  at 
the  command  of  an  officer  sent  by  the  council ;  observing,  "  It 
is  better  to  obey  God  than  man."  Some  armed  men  were 
sent  to  seize  him,  but  Froment  escaped  into  the  house  of  a 
citizen.  He  now  perceived,  however,  that  it  was  dangerous 
to  remain ;  and  shortly  afterward  escaped  by  night  to  Orbe.^ 

By  way  of  opposing  the  Reformers,  the  ecclesiastics  en- 
deavored to  instill  into  the  people  the  greatest  horror  for  their 
doctrines  and  persons.  They  affirmed  that  since  the  intro- 
duction of  these  new  heresies,  Geneva,  instead  of  the  bless- 

1  Ruchat,  iii.,  184.     Spon,  i.,  471. 
^  a  An  open  space  where  the  market  was  held. 

3  Ruchat,  iii.,  185. 


54  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ings  which  it  formerly  enjoyed,  had  been  visited  by  famine, 
pestilence,  sedition,  and  all  the  worst  evils  that  can  afflict 
mankind.  They  represented  Farel  and  Viret  to  the  supersti- 
tious multitude  as  feeding-  devils  at  their  tables  in  the  sliape 
of  huge  black  cats  ;  they  affirmed  that  a  devil  hung  at  every 
hair  of  Farel' s  beard,  that  he  had  no  white  in  his  eyes,  and 
other  absurdities  of  the  like  nature.^  Nevertheless,  Protest- 
antism continued  to  spread,  and  in  1533  the  first  communion 
was  celebrated  in  a  garden  without  the  town.'* 

The  clergy  in  those  days  went  armed,  and  affrays  fre- 
quently arose  between  them  and  their  adherents  and  the 
partisans  of  the  Reformation,  in  which  blood  was  sometimes 
spilled.  A  fatal  one  occurred  on  the  4th  of  May,  1533. 
Many  Genevese  merchants,  who  were  favorable  to  the  Ref- 
ormation, were  absent  at  the  fair  of  Lyons,  and  the  priests 
thought  it  an  excellent  opportunity  for  striking  a  blow.  A 
preconcerted  dispute  was  got  up,  and  while  it  was  raging,  a 
man  ran  to  the  grand- vicar's  to  give  notice  of  it  to  the  priests 
assembled  there,  while  another  hastened  to  St.  Peter's,  to 
rouse  the  canons  and  sound  the  tocsin.  The  canons  issued 
forth  in  a  body  to  the  Molard,  Peter  Wernly  at  their  head, 
armed  cap-a-pie,  and  brandishing  a  huge  two-handed  sword. 
"  Cher  Dieu  I''  he  exclaimed,  "where  are  the  Lutherans?" 
protested  that  he  was  ready  to  die  for  the  Church,  and  en- 
couraged his  followers  to  attack  the  other  party.  The  Luther- 
ans, however,  were  more  numerous  than  had  been  anticipated. 
Wernly's  band  was  routed,  and  he  himself  killed,  while  en- 
deavoring to  save  himself  by  flight.^ 

This  event  caused  great  embarrassment  at  Geneva.  The 
Friburghers  demanded  justice  for  the  blood  of  their  fellow- 
citizen,  and  insisted  on  the  Bishop  of  Geneva  being  recalled, 
to  try  the  assassins.  The  Genevese  did  not  think  it  prudent 
to  refuse  ;  and  on  the  1st  of  July,  after  an  absence  of  several 
years,  Peter  de  la  Beaume  re-entered  Geneva  with  princely 
honors.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  release  the  priests  who 
had  been  imprisoned  for  the  tumult.  On  the  3d  of  July,  after 
a  solemn  mass,  he  convened  a  general  assembly,  and  demand- 
ed of  them,  by  the  mouth  of  the  President  of  Burgundy, 
whether  they  did  not  recognize  him  as  their  lawful  prince  ? 
The  answer  being  in  the  affirmative,  he  exhorted  them  to. 
live  in  unity,  and  addressed  some  threats  to  those  who  had 
quitted  the  Romish  faith. 

1  Kircbbofer,  Lehen  Farels,  i.,  ]  68.  a  Euchat^  iii.,  188. 

3  Spon,  i'.,  492.     Rucbat,  iii.,  226, 


FURBITY  PREACHES  AT  S'J'.  PETER'S.  55 

The  mode  in  which  the  prisoners  for  the  murder  of  Wernly 
should  be  tried,  was  made  a  party  question,  in  which  Berne 
and  Friburgh  exerted  their  influence  :  the  former  in  favor  of 
the  new  and  popular  constitutional  forms,  and  the  latter  in 
behalf  of  the  bishop's  jurisdiction.  It  was  at  length  arranged 
ttat  the  case  should  be  tried  by  the  syndics  and  council,  with 
the  assistance  of  two  clerks  of  the  bishop's,  two  of  Friburgh, 
and  two  of  Berne,  who,  however,  were  not  to  have  a  vote. 
All  the  prisoners  were  acquitted,  except  a  wretched  carman, 
who,  on  being  tortured,  confessed  that  he  had  stabbed  Wernly 
in  the  back.  The  bishop,  however,  did  not  await  the  issue 
of  the  trial.  Fearing,  or  pretending  to  fear,  some  violence 
from  the  people,  he  suddenly  left  Geneva  on  the  14th  of  July, 
and  never  again  returned.^ 

The  Catholic  party,  thus  frustrated  in  their  plan  for  restor- 
ing the  supremacy  of  their  religion  by  means  of  the  bishop, 
resolved  on  opposing  the  Protestants  with  their  own  weapons. 
Toward  the  close  of  1533,  they  caused  Guy  Furbity,  a  Do- 
minican, and  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  who  possessed  great 
reputation  for  learning  and  eloquence,  to  be  brought  to  Gen- 
eva, to  preach  the  Advent  sermons.  Instead  of  preaching  at 
the  Convent  de  Rive,  the  usual  place,  he  was  escorted  with 
great  pomp  to  St,  Peter's  by  a  large  body  of  armed  Catholics. 
One  of  his  sermons  on  the  subject  of  the  soldiers  dividing  our 
Lord's  garment,  in  which  he  applied  the  text  to  the  various 
sects  of  heretics  into  which  the  Church  was  split,  and  loaded 
the  Protestants  with  abuse,  gave  great  offense  to  the  Bernese, 
who  considered  his  words  as  directed  against  themselves. 
They  demanded  his  arrest ;  and  in  order  to  counteract  the 
efiect  of  his  discourses,  sent  back  Farel,  Viret,  and  Froment, 
to  Geneva,  under  the  protection  of  their  embassadors.  The 
Friburghers  remonstrated,  and  threatened  to  cancel  their  al- 
liance with  Geneva ;  the  Bernese,  on  their  side,  held  out  the 
same  menace.  The  confusion  was  increased  by  a  proclama- 
tion of  the  grand- vicar's,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1534,  pro- 
hibiting preaching  without  his  or  the  bishop's  license,  and 
ordering  all  French  and  German  Bibles  to  be  destroyed.  It 
was  evident  that  matters  were  drawing  to  a  crisis,  and  that 
the  Genevese  must  shortly  choose  between  the  alliance  of 
Berne  or  Friburgh,  between  the  Protestant  or  Catholic  faith. 
In  the  course  of  January,  an  embassy  arrived  from  Berne  to 
demand  Furbity 's  arrest  and  trial,  and  to  require  that  a  Re- 
formed minister  should  be  appointed  to  each  of  the  seven  par- 
1  Rucbat,  iii.,  232,  et  seq. 


56  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ishes  of  Geneva  ;  and  these  requisitions  were  supported  by  an 
awkward  demand  for  the  repayment  of  the  large  sums  due 
to  the  Bernese  on  account  of  the  war.     Furbity  being  sum- 
moned before  the  council,  denied  that  his  discourses  had  been 
aimed  at  the  Bernese,  and  offered  to  prove  all  that  he  had 
said  from  Scripture.     A  public  disputation  accordingly  took 
place  between  him  and  Farel  and  Viret,  which  began  on  the 
29th  of  January,  and  lasted   several  days.     Furbity  broke 
down  in  his  undertaking,  especially 'with  regard  to  the  pro- 
hibition of  meat  in  Lent,  for  which  he  could  produca  only  the 
authority  of  Aquinas.     Hereupon  the  Bernese   embassadors 
demanded  justice   against  him   as  a  liar,  and  preacher  of 
dreams ;  and  at  their  instance  he  was  sentenced  to  be  ban- 
ished, after  he  should  have  miade  a  public  retraction  in  St. 
Peter's  church.      Pale,  and  with  hurried   steps,  the  monk 
mounted  the  pulpit  on  the  day  appointed  for  his  recantation  ; 
but,  instead  of  making  it,  he  began  to  complain  of  injustice. 
The  Bernese  embassadors  insisted  on  his  complying  with  the 
verdict ;  and  on  his  again  demurring,  the  people  fell  upon 
him   and  almost  killed  him.     He  was  thrown  into  prison, 
where  he  remained  for  two  years,  when  he  was  released  at 
the  intercession  of  Francis  I.     Farel  afterward  published  an 
account  of  this  dispute  with  Furbity,  and  made  use  of  an 
artifice  which  can  hardly  be  justified.     It  purported  to  be 
written  by  a  friend  of"  the  monk's  ;  and  to  lend  a  color  to  the 
deception,  some  praise  was  bestowed  on  him  in  the  preface.^ 
Under   the   protection  of  the  Bernese  embassador,  Farel, 
Viret,  and  Froment,  continued  vigorously  to  push  the  Ref- 
ormation.    At  length,  even  the   council   showed  symptoms 
of  yielding ;  and  to  the   instances  of  the  Bernese  that  the 
Reformed   ministers   should  be  allowed  to  preach  publicly, 
replied,  that,  though  they  could  not  give  a  formal  sanction 
to  such  a  step,  they  would  not  use  any  means  to  hinder  it.^ 
In  consequence  of  this,  on  Sunday,  the  1st  of  March,  after 
the  Franciscan  who  usually  preached  at  the  Convent  de  Rive 
had  finished  his  sermon.  Ami  Perrin,  Baudichon,  and  other 
friends   of  the  Reformation,  fetched  Farel,  and   made   him 
mount  the  pulpit,  having  first  rung  the  bell  to  assemble  the 
people.^     This  was  the  first  Protestant  sermon  preached  in  a 
Genevese  church.     The  Friburghers  protested  against  these 
proceedings,  and  threatened  to  tear  their  seal  from  the  treaty ; 
a  threat  which  they  actually  carried  into  execution,  on  the 
12th  of  April,  1534. 

1  Kirchliofer,  J.chen  Farch,  i.,  182.        2  Ruchat,  iii.,  284.        3  gpon,  i.,  528. 


DISSOLUriON  OF  THE  MONASTERIES.  57 

There  being  now  nothing  further  to  fear  from  Friburgh, 
the  Reformation  made  rapid  progress  at  Geneva.     The  Prot- 
estants, by  degrees,  obtained  possession  of  other  pulpits  besides 
that  of  the  Convent  de  Rive.     Superstition  was  attacked  in 
its  strongholds  by  the  demolition  of  the  three  convents,  situ- 
ated in  the  Fauxbourgs,  which  were  pulled  down  in  order  to 
strengthen  the  fortifications  of  the  city.^     Others  of  the  relig- 
ious orders,  seeing  their  occupation  gone,  fled  voluntarily  from 
Geneva,  carrying  with  them  the  spoils  of  their  monasteries. 
The  nuns  of  St.  Claire  obtained  permission  to  depart  to  An- 
neci,  to  an  asylum  prepared  for  them  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
where  they  might  avoid  those   heresies  which  filled   them 
with  alarm  and  horror.     One  of  the  sisterhood,  the  Soeur  de 
Jussie,  in  a  book  still  extant,*  has  painted  in  the  most  lively 
colors,  and  with  the  utmost  naivete,  the  particulars  of  their 
removal,  which  seemed  to  them  like  a  migration  into  a  strange 
and  distant  country.     Some  of  them  had  not  been  outside  the 
convent  walls  for  many  years,  and  were  filled  with  alarm  at 
the  commonest  objects.     They  spent  a  whole  day  in  getting 
to  St.  Julien,  about  a  league  from  Geneva.     "  It  was  a  pite- 
ous thing,"  says  the  Soeur  de  Jussie,  *'  to  see  this  holy  com- 
pany in  such  a  plight,  so  overcome  with  fatigue  and  grief, 
that  several  swooned  by  the  way.     It  was  rainy  weather, 
and  all  were  obliged  to  walk  through  the  muddy  roads,  except 
four  poor  invalids  who  were  in  the  carriage.     There  were  six 
poor  old  women  who  had  taken  their  vows  more  than  sixteen 
years  before.     Two  of  these,  who  were  past  sixty-six,  and  had 
never  seen  any  thing  of  the  world,  fainted  away  repeatedly. 
They  could  not  bear  the  wind ;  and  when  they  saw  the  cat- 
tle in  the  fields,  they  took  the  cows  for  bears,  and  the  long- 
wooled   sheep  for  ravishing  wolves.     They  who  met  them 
were  so  overcome  with  compassion,  that  they  could  not  speak 
a  word.     And  though  our  mother,  the  vicaress,  had  supplied 
them  all  with  good  shoes  to  save  their  feet,  the  greater  num- 
ber could  not  walk  in  them,  but  hung  them  at  their  waists. 
And  so  they  walked  from  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when 
they  left  Geneva,  till  near  midnight,  when  they  got  to  St. 
Julien,  which  is  only   a   little   league   off."      Appearances, 
however,  would  seem  to  show  that  these  good  nuns  were  not 
so  simple  as  they  wished  to  be  thought ;  for  after  their  de- 
parture, there   were    discovered  in  their   convent    subterra- 

1  Besides  these  there  were  three  monasteries  within  the  walls,  and  sev- 
eral chapels. 

^  he  Commencement  de  VHeriaie  en  G^nive. 


58  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

neous  passages,  which  communicated  with  that  of  the  Fran- 
ciscans.^ 

It  is  unnecessary  to  follow  minutely  the  remaining  steps 
which  at  length,  in  August,  1535,  led  to  the  complete  estab- 
lishment of  the  Reformation  at  Geneva.  On  the  8th  of  that 
month  the  Protestants  went  in  a  body  to  St.  Peter's,  the  ca- 
thedral church,  and  very  throne,  as  it  were,  of  Romanism, 
and  obliged  Farel  to  come  and  preach  them  a  sermon.  In 
the  evening  a  great  multitude  again  resorted  thither,  over- 
threw the  images,  and  committed  other  acts  of  violence.  On 
the  following  day  a  still  more  serious  disturbance  took  place. 
The  Reformers  assembled  in  arms,  and  led  by  Perrin,  Baudi- 
chon,  and  Vandel,  went  with  drums  beating  to  St.  Gervais, 
St.  Dominique  de  Palais,  and  other  churches,  where  they  did 
still  greater  damage  than  they  had  done  at  St.  Peter's.  The 
council  now  saw  that  they  could  no  longer  delay  taking  some 
decisive  step,  and  therefore  on  the  10th  of  August,  as  Farel 
had  frequently  exhorted  them  to  do,  they  assembled  the  coun- 
cil of  Two  Hundred.  Before  this  assembly  Farel  appeared 
at  the  head  of  the  ministers,  and  addressed  it  in  that  style  of 
bold  and  masculine  eloquence  which  was  peculiar  to  him,  con- 
cluding with  a  prayer  to  the  Almighty  that  it  might  please 
him  to  enlighten  the  members  of  it.  This  had  the  desired 
effect.  It  was  resolved  to  abolish  Popery  ;  and  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  same  day  three  of  the  syndics,  and  two  members 
of  the  council,  waited  on  the  bishop's  grand- vicar  to  announce 
the  resolution  which  had  been  adopted.  From  this  day  mass 
ceased  to  be  publicly  performed  at  Geneva ;  nay,  even  its 
private  celebration  was  forbidden  without  the  permission  of 
the  council,  whose  conduct  seems  to  have  been  regulated  by 
instructions  from  Berne.^  On  the  27th  of  the  same  month 
the  council  published  an  order,  requiring  the  citizens  to  wor- 
ship God  according  to  the  Scriptures,  and  forbidding  all  pa- 
pistical idolatry.^  This  may  be  considered  as  the  virtual  estab- 
lishment of  Protestantism  at  Geneva,  though  a  more  solemn 
sanction  was  given  to  it  on  the  21st  of  May,  in  the  following 
year  ;  when,  at  the  instance  of  Farel,  the  citizens  were  as- 
sembled, and  an  oath  administered  to  them  that  they  would 
live  according  to  the  precepts  of  the  gospel.     The  political 

1  See  Grenus,  Fragmens  Historiques,  p.  208.    Ruchat,  iii.,  383. 

2  P.  LuUiii  having  requested  that  he  and  his  friends  might  he  permitted 
to  say  mass,  we  find  the  following  entry  in  the  Registers,  Sept.  2d,  1535 : 
"Ordonne  d'attendre  des  nouvelles  de  Berne,  afin  de  voir  ce  qu'il  y  a  a 
faire." — Grenus,  Fragw.ens  HiMoriques. 

3  Ruchat,  iii.,  373.     Spon,  i.,  571. 


THE  REFORMATION  ESTABLISHED.  59 

consequences  which  resulted  from  these  steps  have  been  al- 
ready alluded  to. 

The  Genevese  now  turned  their  attention  toward  placing 
the  new  Church  on  a  permanent  footing.  Four  ministers  and 
two  deacons  were  appointed,  with  fixed  salaries  payable  out 
of  the  ecclesiastical  revenues.  Regulations  were  made  to  en- 
force a  stricter  discipline.  All  shops  were  ordered  to  be  shut 
on  the  Sabbath :  a  sermon  was  appointed  to  be  preached  at 
four  in  the  morning  for  servants  and  such  as  could  not  attend 
at  a  later  hour  ;  the  communion  was  to  be  administered  four 
times  a  year;  baptism  on  any  day  whatever,  but  only  by  a 
minister,  and  in  the  church.  Nor  was  the  education  of  youth 
neglected.  A  school  was  established  at  the  Convent  de  Rive, 
and  Saunier  appointed  to  the  mastership. 

But  Farel's  zeal  was  accompanied  with  intolerance.  In 
April,  1536,  he  summoned  to  Geneva  the  priests  of  the  sur- 
rounding villages,  and  required  them  to  make  an  immediate 
renunciation  of  Popery.  An  aged  priest,  as  spokesman  for  the 
rest,  remarked  with  sense  and  dignity  on  the  hardship  of  being 
required  to  repudiate,  at  a  moment's  notice,  a  system  of  reli- 
gion which  had  lasted  for  so  many  ages  ;  and  that,  too,  before 
any  attempt  had  been  made  to  convince  them  of  its  falsehood. 
"  Send  teachers,"  he  said,  "  to  instruct  us  wherein  we  err,  and 
when  we  are  convinced,  we  will  follow  you."  In  this  reply 
Farel  saw  only  a  spirit  of  obstinate  resistance  ;  but  Bonnivard, 
who  had  recently  been  released  from  his  long  imprisonment, 
was  for  giving  the  country  clergy  time  ;  and  pointed  out  that 
so  forced  and  sudden  a  conversion  could  never  be  sincere.  In 
consequence  of  his  representations,  a  month  was  allowed  them 
for  consideration.  This,  however,  was  but  a  short  space  in 
which  to  get  rid  of  the  habits  and  prejudices  of  a  life ;  and 
though  at  the  expiration  of  it  the  greater  part  of  the  rural 
clergy  gave  in  their  adherence  to  Protestantism,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  many  instances  of  apostasy  should  have  subse- 
quently occurred.^ 

The  conversion  of  Geneva  into  a  republic  by  the  overthrow 
of  the  episcopal  power,  was  necessarily  attended  with  some 
changes  in  its  government ;  and  as  Calvin's  personal  history, 
as  well  as  the  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity  which  he  established, 
are  so  closely  connected  with  the  Genevese  constitution  as  not 
to  be  clearly  intelligible  without  a  general  knowledge  of  the 
latter,  it  will  be  proper  to  give  a  short  account  of  it  here. 

While  the  government  of  the  bishop  existed  at  Qeneva,  he 
1  Ruchat,  iv.,  124.     Spon,  ii.,  13.     Kirchhofer,  i.,  195. 


60  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

was  assisted  by  four  magistrates,  called  syndics,  and  by  a 
council.  The  duties  of  the  syndics  were  to  keep  the  peace, 
and  watch  over  the  safety  of  the  city,  to  preside  in  the  assem- 
blies, and  the  like.  The  burgesses,  as  already  said,  had  the 
right  of  meeting  in  general  assembly,  and  were  consulted  on 
all  important  emergencies.  In  order  to  avoid  the  too  frequent 
convocation  of  this  body,  whose  proceedings  were  often  turbu- 
lent, a  council  of  Sixty  had  been  instituted  in  1457,'  and  after 
the  aUiance  with  Friburgh  and  Berne  in  1526,  another  coun- 
cil of  Two  Hundred  was  added,  in  imitation  of  the  constitution 
of  those  cities.  The  ancient  or  ordinary  council,  which  Avas 
the  executive  power  of  the  state,  consisted  of  sixteen  members, 
besides  the  four  syndics  of  the  current  year,  the  four  retiring 
syndics,  and  the  treasurer  ;  making  a  total  of  twenty-five  per- 
sons. Gentlemen,  graduates  in  some  science,  and  wholesale 
dealers,  were  alone  eligible  to  this  office.  The  Sixty  were, 
of  right,  members  of  the  council  of  Two  Hundred,  and  the 
ordinary  or  httle  council  formed  part  of  both  the  other  bodies, 
which  did  not  always  consist  of  the  exact  number  indicated 
by  their  names. ^  Previously  to  the  institution  of  the  Two 
Hundred,  the  ordinary  council  had  been  elected  by  the  four 
syndics,  each  syndic  choosing  four  members  to  serve  for  the 
current  year.  But  as  this  arrangement  was  thought  to  throw 
too  much  power  into  the  hands  of  the  syndics,  in  1530  the 
Two  Hundred  assumed  to  themselves  the  election  of  the  ordi- . 
nary  council  f  though,  by  way  of  equilibrium,  it  was  resolved 
that  the  ordinary  council  should  in  its  turn  elect  the  members 
of  the  Two  Hundred.  The  latter  assembly,  as  well  as  the 
Sixty,  met  only  when  summoned  by  the  ordinary  council ;  but 
any  member  of  them  could  demand  their  being  summoned, 
provided  he  paid  the  expenses  ;  namely,  a  sol  to  each  member, 
equal  to  about  a,  franc  of  present  money."*  The  establishment 
of  the  Two  Hundred  did  not  put  an  end  to  the  general  assem- 
bly of  the  burgesses,  though  it  rendered  the  necessity  for  its 
meeting  less  frequent ;  and  it  was  subsequently  part  of  Cal- 
vin's policy  to  curtail  the  privileges  of  this  democratic  body. 

1  Galiffe,^  quoted  by  P.  Henry,  ii.,  64.  The  annotator  on  Spon  (i.,  437), 
places  the  institution  of  this  council  after  the  Bernese  alliance.  Bonnivard 
{apud  Ruchat,  i.,  S19)  mentions  a  council  of  Fifty  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  probably  the  same  body. 

2  Thus,  in  the  Registers  of  Geneva,  February  12th,  1535,  we  read  :  "  Cou- 
seil  des  60  est  elu ;  il  est  compost  de  67  personnes,  outre  le  conseil  ordinaire. 
On  elit  aussi  le  conseil  des  CC  ;  qui,  y  compris  les  deux  susdits  conseils,  est 
compose  de  175  personnes." — G-renns,  Fragmens  Historiques,  sub  anno. 

3  RegiMres,  28  Fevrier,  1530. 

*  Golifie,  apud  P.  Henry,  ii.,  64. 


GENEVESE  CONSTITUTION.  61 

It  assembled,  however,  as  a  matter  of  course,  in  February  to 
choose  the  syndics,  and  in  November  to  fix  the  price  of  wine, 
and  to  nominate  the  lieutenant-criminel,  or  chief  officer  of  po- 
hce,  and  his  court,  consisting  of  four  assistants  or  auditors. 
The  other  meetings  of  the  general  assembly  were  according  to 
emergencies.  Though  it  had  the  election  of  the  syndics,  its 
choice  was  confined  to  eight  persons,  whose  names  were  sub- 
mitted to  it  by  the  little  council ;  and  of  the  four  chosen,  two 
were  to  be  taken  from  the  higher,  and  two  from  the  lower, 
class  of  citizens. 

From  this  brief  sketch  of  the  Genevese  government,  it  is 
evident  that  the  real  power  lay  almost  entirely  in  the  ordinary 
council,  whose  constitution  rendered  it  a  kind  of  oligarchy. 
The  syndics,  who,  in  and  out  of  office,  enjoyed  their  seats  for 
at  least  two  years,  formed  nearly  one  third  of  the  whole  body , 
while  the  treasurer  was  elected  for  five  years.  And  though 
the  remaining  sixteen  members  were  chosen  annually  by  the 
Two  Hundred,  yet,  as  the  choice  of  that  body  was  restricted 
to  thirty  names  proposed  by  the  ordinary  council  itself,  and  as 
the  latter  body  elected  the  members  of  the  Two  Hundred,  the 
more  influential  party  in  the  ordinary  council  found  no  diffi- 
culty in  securing  the  return  of  its  adherents.  It  is  the  more 
necessary  to  observe  this  oligarchical  tendency,  since  it  Avas 
the  means  which  enabled  Calvin  to  carry  out  his  views,  and 
which  it  was  consequently  his  policy  to  foster  and  augment. 
The  predominance  thus  conferred  on  the  ordinary  council  by 
its  constitution,  was  heightened  by  the  important  functions 
with  which  it  was  invested  ;  since  it  enjoyed  not  only  the 
executive,  but  the  judicial  and  legislative  powers.^ 

Such  was  the  state  of  Geneva  when,  as  before  related, 
Calvin  arrived  there  in  August,  1536.  It  may  be  doubted 
whether  his  earlier  arrival  in  that  city  would  have  materially 
assisted  the  cause  of  the  Reformation  ;  since,  as  we  have  seen, 
it  was  brought  about  by  turbulent  changes,  demanding  great 
physical  energy  and  courage.  But  the  ground  once  cleared, 
and  the  Reformation  established  on  a  tolerably  sure  footing, 
the  clear  and  vigorous  understanding,  the  extensive  and  ready 
learning,  the  unshaken  fortitude,  and  the  prudence  and  con- 
sistency of  purpose  which  characterized  Calvin,  admirably 
adapted  him  to  confirm  and  extend  its  empire.  Farel  had 
still  many  obstacles  to  contend  with.  Though  Protestantism 
had  been  estabUshed  by  public  authority,  the  Popish  party 
was  still   considerable,   and  offered  all  the   resistance  in   its 

1  GnlifFe,  apnd  P.  Henry,  ii.,  63,  et  aeq. 


62  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

power.  Farel  had  but  few  to  help  him  ;  and  even  from  his 
own  party  he  sometimes  met  with  opposition  instead  of  assist- 
ance. Ministers  properly  qualified  ibr  the  office,  and  who 
could  be  confided  in,  were  rare.  Viret,  who  had  narrowly 
escaped  with  his  life  the  effects  of  poison  which  the  priests 
had  bribed  his  cook  to  administer  to  him  in  some  soup,  had 
retired  from  Geneva.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  Farel  had 
sent  to  Neufchatel  for  him  and  Fabri ;  but  though  the  latter 
came,  his  stay  seems  to  have  been  but  short,  and  Viret,  while 
on  his  journey  to  Geneva,  had  been  detained  at  Lausanne, 
and  persuaded  to  accept  the  ministry  in  that  city.^  It  is  not 
surprising,  therefore,  that  when  Farel  heard  of  Calvin's  ar- 
rival, he  should  have  felt  anxious  to  secure  the  services  of  a 
man  already  distinguished  by  his  learning  and  his  zeal.  Even 
after  succeeding  in  this,  we  find  him  complaining  of  the  want 
of  laborers  for  the  harvest.  In  a  letter  dated  on  the  21st  of 
November,  1536,  and  addressed  to  Fabri,  who  appears  to  have 
been  then  at  Thonon,  he  says  :  "I  am  ordered  to  bring  minis- 
ters from  all  quarters,  but  where  to  find  them  I  absolutely 
know  not.  They  who  are  fittest,  and  teach  Jesus  Christ  most 
purely,  are  not  cared  for,  while  hypocrites  and  braggarts  are 
extolled  to  the  skies.  The  over-delicate  are  not  easily  per- 
suaded to  come  into  this  country  ;  they  would  rather  be  buried 
in  the  sepulchers  of  the  Egyptians,  than  eat  the  manna,  and 
follow  the  column,  in  the  desert.  If  you  have  any  influence 
with  persons  of  merit,  pray  assist  us,"^  &c. 

In  Calvin,  Farel  not  only  gained  a  powerful  coadjutor,  but 
a  steadfast  friend.  He  was  always  ready  to  do  homage  to 
the  superior  talents  and  learning  of  Calvin,  to  whom,  though 
so  much  his  junior,  he  looked  up  with  a  sort  of  reverence  ;  and 
the  latter,  on  his  side,  though  he  sometimes  criticised  his 
friend's  literary  productions  with  freedom,^  entertained  a  favor- 
able opinion  of  Farel's  abilities,  and  a  high  regard  for  his  per- 
sonal character. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival,  Calvin  was  elected  teacher  of  the- 
ology, in  which  faculty  there  was  at  that  time  no  professorship 
at  Geneva,  the  academy  not  being  yet  in  existence.  He  at 
first  declined  the  office  of  minister,  but  accepted  it  the  follow- 
ing year,  having  been  elected  by  the  magistrates  and  the  gen- 
eral assembly.  His  first  labors  seem  to  have  been  almost  gra- 
tuitous. In  an  entry  of  the  R^egisters  of  the  13th  of  February, 
1537,  we  find  it  proposed  to  give  him  six  gold  crowns,  seeing 

1  Kirchhofer,  Leben  Farels,  l,  196.  2  Rtichat.  iv..  S?.*^ 

3  See  his  letters  to  Farel  in  P.  Henry,  i.,  168. 


DISPUTATION  OF  LAUSANNE.  63 

that  as  yet  he  had  scarcely  received  any  thing.  ^  His  first 
sermon  was  received  with  enthusiasm.  Multitudes  followed 
him  home  to  testify  their  gratification  ;  and  he  was  obliged  to 
promise  that  he  would  preach  again  the  next  day,  in  order 
that  others  might  have  an  opportunity  to  hear  him.^  At 
Calvin's  instance,  Courault,  whose  exertions  at  Paris,  under 
the  protection  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  have  been  already 
mentioned,  was  sent  for  from  Basle,  whither  he  had  been 
driven  by  the  persecutions  in  France.  Blind  and  old,  Cou- 
rault still  possessed  unimpaired  his  powers  of  eloquence,  which 
had  been  the  means  of  converting  many. 

In  the  month  of  October  following  his  arrival,  we  find  Cal- 
vin, together  with  Farel,  Viret,  Fabri,  Caroli,  and  others, 
attending  a  disputation  which  the  council  of  Berne  had  ap- 
pointed to  be  conducted  in  the  French  language,  in  the  cathe- 
dral of  Lausanne,  as  a  means  of  instructing,  in  the  principles 
of  the  Reformation,  their  subjects  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  which 
country  had  accrued  to  them  by  their  victory  over  the  Savoy- 
ards. All  the  clergy  of  that  district  were  invited  to  attend  ; 
and  though  their  eftbrts  to  avert  the  disputation  were  seconded 
by  the  citizens  of  Lausanne,  and  even  by  the  prohibition  of  the 
emperor,  they  found  themselves  compelled  to  enter  into  it. 
The  priests  are  said  to  have  planted  assassins  to  murder  the 
Protestant  ministers  on  the  road  ;  but  happily  the  plot  was 
discovered  and  frustrated.^  The  basis  of  the  discussion  con- 
sisted of  ten  propositions  drawn  up  by  Farel,  with  whom  the 
main  burden  of  conducting  it  rested.  On  the  fourth  and  fifth 
days,  however,  Calvin  addressed  the  meeting  with  so  much 
efibct  on  the  subject  of  transubstantiation,  that  a  bare-footed 
friar,  named  Tandi,  confessed  his  conversion  on  the  spot."*  The 
disputation  proved  of  great  service  in  spreading  the  Reforma- 
tion in  the  Pays  de  Vaud.  In  order  to  establish  it  on  a  secure 
foundation,  the  Bernese  divided  the  country  into  seven  eccle- 
siastical districts,  called  classes,  appointing  proper  ministers 
for  each.^ 

At  Geneva,  Farel  continued  to  push  on  his  schemes  of 
reformation  and  discipline.  With  the  assistance  of  Calvin 
he  drew  up  a  short  confession  of  faith  in  twenty- one  articles, 
which  also  comprised  some  regulations  respecting  church  gov- 
ernment.    Among  the  latter  the  right  of  excommunication, 

1  "On  donne  six  ecus  au  soleil  a  Cauvin,  soit  CalvilD,  vu  qu'il  n'a  encore 
gii^res  requ." — Grenus,  Fragm.  Biogr. 

2  P.  Henry,  i.,  173.  3  Kirclihofer,  i.,  201. 

*  Ih.,  p.  2U9.  An  abstract  of  the  disputation  will  be  found  in  Rucliat.  iv., 
181-363.  5  7^.^  p.  43  3 


64  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

allowed  by  the  1 9th  article,  was  the  most  important,  as  it 
subsequently  became  the  chief  instrument  of  Calvin's  spiritual 
domination,  and  the  cause  of  the  struggles  which  ensued.  In 
November  this  confession,  to  which  Farel  had  appended  the 
Ten  Commandments,  was  laid  before  the  council  of  Two 
Hundred,  who  ordered  it  to  be  printed,  to  be  read  in  St. 
Peter's  church  every  Sunday,  and  the  people  to  be  sworn  to 
the  observance  of  it. 

Calvin  had  not  been  long  at  Geneva  when  the  Anabaptists 
began  to  create  some  disturbance  there.  The  fanaticism  of 
that  sect,  as  is  well  known,  had  proved  injurious  to  the  cause 
of  the  Reformation  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  especially  in 
Germany  and  Holland.  At  Geneva  they  were  headed  by 
two  Flemings,  Hermann  de  Liege,  and  Andre  Benoit.  Here, 
as  in  other  places,  they  spread  their  doctrines  insidiously. 
They  had  given  out  that  Farel  was  of  their  way  of  thinking, 
and  had  even  succeeded  in  gaining  some  members  of  the 
council.  By  these  they  were  introduced  to  that  body,  and 
laid  before  them  certain  propositions  which  they  wished  to 
maintain  in  a  public  disputation.  To  this  the  council  were 
at  first  averse ;  but,  at  the  instance  of  Calvin  and  Farel,  at 
length  consented  that  one  should  be  held  at  the  Convent  de 
Rive.  It  took  place  in  March,  1537,  before  the  council  and 
a  numerous  audience,  and  lasted  several  days.  The  Ana- 
baptists, not  being  able  to  support  their  tenets  by  Scripture, 
were  declared  to  be  vanquished,  and  ordered  to  retract  ;  and, 
upon  their  refusal,  were  banished,  under  pain  of  death  if  they 
returned.^ 

About  the  same  time  another  opponent  succeeded  in  giving 
Calvin  and  Farel  a  great  deal  of  pain  and  annoyance.  This 
was  Peter  Caroli,  w^ho  had  made  himself  conspicuous  at 
Geneva  about  two  years  before  by  taking  part  against  Jacques 
Bernard,  Farel,  and  the  other  Protestant  ministers,  in  a  dis- 
putation held  on  the  occasion  of  Bernard's  conversion.  Caroli 
was  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  used  to  preach  at  St.  Paul's 
church,  in  Paris ;  but  having  adopted  the  new  fashion  of 
reading  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  then  newly  trans- 
lated into  French,  instead  of  a  sermon,  was  cited,  in  1524, 
before  the  faculty  of  theology,  inhibited  from  preaching,  and 
ultimately  obliged  to  fly.^  Farel  had  known  him  at  Paris, 
where  he  is  said  to  have  led  a  very  dissolute  life.  Subse- 
quently he  returned  to  the  Catholic  faith,  reconciled  himself 
with  the  Sorbonne,  and  obtained  the  cure  of  Alencon,  where 

1  Rurhat,  v.,  53.     Kirclihofer  i.,  219.  2  Gerdesius,  iv.,  52,  et  seq. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS.— CAROLI.  65 

he  at  first  distinguished  himself  as  a  persecutor  of  the  Prot- 
estants. Vain,  fickle,  insinuating,  and  hypocritical,  Caroli's 
only  object  seemed  to  be  to  attract  public  attention,  by  any 
means  whatever.  He  had  not  been  long  at  Alenpon,  when 
he  again  passed  himself  off  among  the  Protestants  as  a  con- 
vert to  their  principles ;  and  a  fresh  persecution  breaking 
out,  was  compelled  to  betake  himself,  in  1534,  to  Geneva. 
Here  his  behavior  was  marked  by  the  greatest  duplicity. 
Though  he  fawned  on  Farel  and  Viret,  he  could  never  be 
brought  to  subscribe  to  their  profession  of  faith.  He  was 
suspected  even  here  of  leading  a  disorderly  life ;  and  on  one 
occasion  Farel  had  detected  him  in  appropriating  the  proceeds 
of  a  collection  for  the  poor.^  Nevertheless  he  contrived,  in 
1536,  to  obtain  the  ministry  of  Neufchatel,  where  he  mar- 
ried. After  the  disputation  of  Lausanne,  he  got  the  Ber- 
nese, by  dint  of  solicitation,  to  appoint  him  chief  minister  in 
that  city,  and  thus,  in  consideration  of  his  age,  and  doctor's 
degree,  obtained  precedence  over  the  tried  and  meritorious 
Viret.  His  ambition  rose  with  his  success.  He  had  not 
been  long  in  his  new  office  when,  in  November,  1536,  he 
repaired  to  Berne,  to  solicit  the  inspectorship  over  the  clergy 
of  the  whole  district.  But  the  Bernese  council  now  began 
to  perceive  the  man's  pride,  and  he  was  sent  back  with  a 
sharp  rebuke,  and  a  command  to  submit  himself,  as  a  new 
comer,  to  the  directions  of  Viret.  Mortified  by  this  repulse, 
and  offended  at  the  admonitions  of  Faref  and  Viret,  who, 
knowing  his  immoral  life,  exhorted  him  to  reform,  Caroli 
began  to  meditate  on  schemes  of  vengeance.^  Meanwhile 
he  laid  himself  open  to  suspicion,  by  insisting  in  a  sermon  on 
the  necessity  of  praying  for  the  dead.  For  this  Viret  brought 
him  before  the  consistory  of  Berne,  by  which  he  was  ordered 
to  retract  his  doctrine,  in  a  humiliating  manner.  Although 
Viret  and  Calvin,  who  were  also  present,  had  interceded  in 
his  favor,  the  anger  which  had  long  been  smoldering  in  his 
heart  burst  into  a  sudden  flame.  To  the  surprise  of  the 
assembly,  he  got  up  and  charged  Calvin,  Farel,  and  Viret, 
with  Arianism.  Calvin  immediately  replied,  "  It  is  but  a 
few  days  ago  that  I  dined  with  Caroli ;  I  was  then  his  very 
dear  brother,  and  he  told  me  to  make  his  compliments  to 
Farel.  He  then  treated  as  brethren  those  whom  he  now 
charges  as  heretics,  and  protested  that  he  wished  always  to 
live  in  brotherly  love  with  us.  But  not  a  word  did  he  say 
about  Arianism.  Where  was  then  the  glory  of  God,  or  the 
1  Kuchat,  v.,  17.  2  Kirchhofer,  i.,  222. 


66  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

honor  of  the  council  of  Berne  ?  Where  the  purity  of  the 
faith,  and  the  unity  of  the  Church  ?  One  of  two  things  : 
you  have  either  acted  perfidiously  toward  God  and  man,  and 
wickedly  betrayed  the  truth,  or  it  must  be  clear  to  all  that 
you  are  influenced  by  some  other  motive  than  what  you  pre- 
tend in  bringing  this  accusation.  If  you  have  already  twice 
administered  the  communion  with  an  Arian  colleague,  where 
was  your  conscience  ?  If  you  had  a  single  spark  of  true  zeal 
or  piety,  would  you  have  silently  suffered  your  brothers  and 
colleagues  to  reject  the  Son  of  God?  Would  you  soil  your- 
self with  the  infection  of  such  an  impiety  by  communicating 
with  them  ]  But,  supposing  all  this  of  no  consequence,  I  de- 
mand how  you  know  that  I  am  infected  with  the  Arian  here- 
sy ?  I  believe  that  I  have  given  a  pretty  clear  testimony  of  my 
faith,  and  that  you  will  find  no  more  ardent  supporter  than 
myself  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  My  works  are  in  the 
hands  of  every  body,  and  I  have  at  least  derived  this  fruit 
from  them,  that  my  doctrine  is  approved  by  all  the  ortho- 
dox churches.  But  you  I  what  proof  have  you  ever  given  of 
your  faith,  except,  perhaps,  in  taverns,  or  other  worse  places  ? 
For  such  are  the  haunts  in  which  you  have  passed  your  time. 
Show  us,  then,  the  very  passage  on  which  you  found  your 
accusation  of  Arianism  ;  for  I  will  wash  out  this  infamy,  and 
will  not  endure  to  be  unjustly  suspected."^ 

Caroli  was  overwhelmed  by  this  spirited  remonstrance  ; 
and  as  Calvin  continued  to  press  him  to  bring  forward  his 
proof,  he  became  confused,  acknowledged  that  Calvin's  writ- 
ings were  orthodox,  and  offered  to  retract  his  charge  so  far 
as  he  was  concerned,  provided  he  would  not  undertake  to  de- 
fend Farel.  Viret  likewise  compelled  Caroli  to  withdraw  his 
charge  against  him;  but  both  he  and  Calvin  declared  that 
they  should  not  rest  satisfied  with  this  retraction,  unless  their 
absent  brother  Farel  were  included  in  it.  As  Caroli  mani- 
fested no  disposition  to  comply,  Calvin  represented  to  the 
council  that  the  matter  was  too  serious  to  be  passed  over  in 
that  manner,  and  begged  their  assistance  in  requesting  the 
council  of  Berne  to  appoint  a  synod,  before  which  it  might  be 
examined. 

One  was  accordingly  summoned  to  meet  at  Lausanne  about 
the  middle  of  March.  Caroli  entered  the  assembly  like  a 
lawyer  with  a  bag  full  of  briefs,  and  gave  vent  to  the  bitterest 
language,  uttered  with  all  the  power  of  his  lungs,  and  accom- 
panied with  the  most  violent  contortions.^  Caspar  Grossman 
1  Uuchat,  v.,  22.  8  Calvin,  Ep.,  5.    P.  Henry,  i.,  181. 


CAROLI'S  BANISHMENT  AND  APOSTASY.  67 

(or  Megander),  who  presided,  having  first  required  Viret  to 
declare  his  sentiments  on  the  subject  of  the  Trinity,  that 
minister  handed  in  a  written  confession  to  be  presented  to 
the  council  of  Berne.  Caroli  criticised  this  document,  which 
he  found  too  short  and  dry  ;  and  then  proceeded  to  repeat 
aloud  the  Nicene  and  Athanasian  creeds,  using  such  extra- 
vagant gestures  as  set  the  whole  assembly  laughing.  Calvin 
now  rose  and  justified  himself  in  a  long  discourse,  in  which 
he  severely  reprehended  him.  "  Caroli,"  said  he,  "  quarrels 
with  us  about  the  nature  of  God,  and  the  distinction  of  the 
persons ;  but  I  carry  the  matter  further,  and  ask  him  if  he 
believes  in  the  Deity  at  all  ?  For  I  protest  before  God  and 
man  that  he  has  no  more  faith  than  a  dog  or  pig."  He  then 
handed  in  a  confession  of  faith,  agreed  upon  between  himself 
and  his  colleagues  ;  but  to  which  Caroli  objected,  because  it 
did  not  contain  the  words  Trinity  or  Perso7i,  and  on  account 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  name  of  Jehovah  was  used  with 
regard  to  the  Saviour.^  He  then  required  the  Genevese 
ministers  to  subscribe  the  three  creeds ;  but  Calvin,  in  the 
name  of  his  brethren,  refused ;  not  that  they  did  not  accept 
them,  but  that  they  would  not  show  a  deference  to  Caroli  to 
which  he  was  not  entitled  ;  nor  sanction  the  introduction  of 
a  sort  of  tyranny  into  the  Church,  by  allowing  the  right  of  a 
private  individual  to  compel  another  to  declare  his  faith. 
The  synod,  after  due  examination,  received  the  confession  of 
the  Genevese  ministers,  declared  Caroli  convicted  of  calumny, 
and  expressed  their  opinion  that  he  ought  to  be  deposed  from 
the  ministry. 

Caroli  appealed  to  Berne;  but  Calvin  and  his  colleagues 
were  also  acquitted  by  a  synod  held  in  that  town  toward  the 
end  of  May.  The  Genevese  ministers  being  asked  whether, 
in  their  turn,  they  had  any  accusation  to  bring  against  Caroli, 
the  latter  thought  it  best  to  anticipate  them  by  a  free  and 
public  confession,  in  which  he  acknowledged  the  immoral  life 
that  he  had  led  in  France,  the  perfidy  with  which  he  had 
dissembled  his  religious  opinions,  and  even  thrown  into  the 
hands  of  the  persecutors  two  young  men  of  his  acquaintance, 
of  whose  conduct  and  principles  he  inwardly  approved.  But 
Farel  showed  that  even  in  this  confession  he  had  not  laid 
bare  the  whole  extent  of  his  guilt.^ 

Caroli  was  banished,  and  ordered  before  his  departure  to 
acknowledge  in  public  the  innocence  of  the  ministers  whom 
he  had  slandered.  To  avoid  the  latter  part  of  this  sentence, 
1  It  is  in  Rucbat,  v.,  27,  et  seq.  *  Ruchat,  v.,  31. 


68  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

he  fled  early  the  following  morning  from  Berne  to  Soleure, 
whence  he  addressed  a  violent  letter  against  the  ministers  to 
the  council  of  Lausanne.  He  then  betook  himself  to  France, 
and  sought  the  protection  of  Cardinal  Tournon,  at  whose 
recommendation  he  proceeded  to  Rome.  Here  he  handed  in 
a  paper  to  the  Pope,  in  which  he  condemned  the  lives  and 
doctrines  of  the  Reformers,  denouncing  Farel  as  the  chief 
heretic.  The  Pope  received  him  back  into  the  Romish 
Church ;  and  released  him  from  his  concubine,  as  he  called 
his  wife  ;  restored  him  to  his  doctorate  ;  and  gave  him  full 
power  to  enjoy  benefices,  and  to  exercise  the  functions  of  the 
priesthood.*  Nor  was  this  the  last  apostasy  of  this  extraor- 
dinary man  ;  whose  frequent  tergiversations,  and  the  facility 
with  which  he  was  re-admitted,  both  by  Protestants  and 
Catholics,  into  the  communions  which  he  had  so  repeatedly 
deserted,  show  the  anxiety  felt  by  both  sides  in  those  times 
to  secure  the  adhesion  of  any  man  at  all  distinguished  by  rank 
or  learning,  however  profligate  and  worthless  his  character. 

It  must,  however,  be  confessed  that  Farel  and  Calvin's 
subsequent  conduct  with  regard  to  the  doctrine  in  question 
was  not  only  amenable  to  the  charge  of  obstinacy  and  self- 
will,  but  even  of  duplicity.  Though  the  synod  and  council 
of  Berne,  to  which  Caroli  had  appealed  from  Lausanne,  had, 
as  we  have  said,  acquitted  them  of  the  charge  brought  against 
them  by  Caroli,  it  had  required  that  they  should  subscribe  the 
Helvetic  confession,  drawn  up  at  Basle  in  February,  1536, 
and  ratified  by  the  Reformed  cantons  in  the  following  May  : 
in  the  6th  article  of  which  we  find  the  term  Persons  used 
with  regard  to  the  Trinity.^  Yet,  in  spite  of  this  subscrip- 
tion, Calvin  and  Farel  still  continued  to  object  to  the  use  of 
the  words  Trinity  and  Person,  and  even  wished  to  force  their 
views  on  some  of  the  ministers  of  the  district  of  Gex,  who 
complained  to  the  Bernese  council  of  their  proceedings.  Here- 
upon, those  magistrates  addressed  the  following  letter  to  Farel 
and  Calvin : 

"  Learned,  discreet,  dear,  and  good  Friends, 
"  We  have  been  informed  by  some  of  our  preachers  of  the 
district  of  Gex,  and  other  places,  that  you  still  continue  to 
inculcate  your  meaning   and  opinion  of  the  nullity  of  the 

1  Kirchhofer,  Lebens  Farels,  i.,  229. 

2  "VI.  Voici  les  sentimens  que  nous  avons  de  Dieu :  Q,u'il  y  a  ua  seul 
vrai  Dieu,  vivant  et  tout-puissant,  unique  en  essence,  et  qui  dans  cette 
unite  a  trois  personncs,"  &c.     See  Ruchat,  iv.,  62. 


CALVIN  AND  FAREL'S  ORTHODOXY  SUSPECTED.       6f) 

words  Trinity  and  Person,  in  order  to  turn  aside  the  afore- 
said preachers  from  the  manner  of  speaking  of  the  Trinity 
usually  received  in  the  Church.  And  it  has  even  come  to 
our  notice,  that  you,  Calvin  !  have  written  a  letter  to  a  cer- 
tain Frenchman  at  Basle,  stating  that  your  confession  had 
been  approved  of  in  our  congregation,  and  been  ratified  by 
our  ministers  ;  which  is  not  the  feet,  but  the  contrary  ;  that 
you  and  Farel  then  consented  and  agreed  to  subscribe  our 
confession,  made  in  the  same  city  of  Basle,  and  to  abide  by 
it ;  so  that  we  are  astonished  that  you  should  attempt  to  con- 
travene it  by  such  discourses,  and  beg  of  you  to  desist ;  other- 
wise we  shall  be  constrained  to  provide  some  other  remedy. 

"  To  our  good  friend*a.  Master  William  Farel,  preacher  of 
the  Church,  and  John  Calvin,  lecturer  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures at  Geneva. 

^'  From  Berne,  this  VMh  of  August,  1537." 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  Calvin's  orthodoxy  is  beyond 
suspicion  ;  for  he  had  used  the  word  Trinity  in  the  first  edi- 
tion of  his  "  Institutes,"  and  declared  the  necessity  of  that  of 
Person^  His  conduct  on  this  occasion  seems  therefore  to 
have  been  adopted  out  of  an  ill-considered  and  inexcusable 
deference  for  his  friend  Farel,  who  was  suspected  of  attaching 
too  little  importance  to  the  authority  of  the  Church  with  re- 
gard to  this  doctrine.  And  with  this  feeling,  Calvin  appeal- 
ed, not  to  his  "  Institutes"  in  proof  of  his  orthodoxy,  but  to 
the  Genevese  Catechism,  which  had  been  the  joint  work  of 
Farel,  Viret,  and  himself,  and  which  had  appeared  a  little 
before  in  French.  This  catechism,  in  which  the  Trinity  had 
been  described  as  three  persons  in  one  essence,  Calvin  now 
turned  into  Latin,  in  order  that  the  German  Reformers  might 
have  an  opportunity  to  read  it,  as  it  might  serve  to  dissipate 
their  suspicions.  Why  Farel  should  have  agreed  to  this  cate- 
chism, and,  after  agreeing,  have  acted  contrary  to  it,  appears 
inexplicable  ;  unless  he  had  been  out-voted  by  his  colleagues 
when  it  was  drawn  up. 

The  opinion  seemed  to  gain  ground  in  other  places  besides 
Berne,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Genevese  ministers  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Trinity  was  not  completely  orthodox.  Myconius 
at  Basle,  and  Bucer  at  Strasburgh,  had  written  to  BulHnger 
and  Melancthon  about  it  in  a  way  which  betrayed  their  ap- 
prehension that  the  Arian  heresy  was  about  to  be  introduced 

1  Iluchat,  v.,  Pieces  justificativesi,  No.  1. 
^  P.  Hearv,  i.,  183,  note. 


70  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

into  the  Church.^  These  ministers,  accompanied  by  Capito 
and  Grynseus,  repaired  in  the  following  September  to  Berne, 
where  they  drew  up  two  papers  :  in  the  first  of  which  they 
stated  the  grounds  on  which  they  agreed  wdth  the  ministers 
of  Berne  respecting  the  use  of  the  words  Trinity  and  Per- 
son ;  and  in  the  second,  explained  the  meaning  of  the  term 
Jehovah.  It  was  agreed  that  the  former  words  were  of  great 
use  to  express  the  distinctions  of  the  Trinity,  and  therefore 
they  took  upon  themselves  to  use  them,  and  to  see  that  they 
were  not  laid  aside  in  the  Church.  They  condemned  the  ab- 
staining from  them  as  preposterous  and  superstitious ;  yet  they 
would  bear  with  people  who  so  abstained,  and  neither  excom- 
municate nor  anathematize  them,  but  w^ould  do  all  in  their 
power  to  convert  them  :  though  they  would  not  find  fault 
with  the  Bernese  Church  if  they  excluded  from  the  ministry 
those  who  rejected  these  words.  This  was,  in  fact,  a  con- 
demnation of  Farel  and  Calvin.  At  the  same  time  Bueer 
and  Capito,  the  Strasburgh  ministers,  who  in  their  negotia- 
tions with  Luther  and  other  Saxon  divines  at  Eisenach  in 
1536,  respecting  a  concordat  on  the  subject  of  the  eucharist,^ 
had  incurred  the  suspicion  of  leaning  too  much  to  the  Lu- 
theran doctrine,  and  of  thus  departing  from  the  articles  of  the 
Disputation  of  Berne,  and  of  the  Helvetic  Confession,  agreed 
to  sign  a  confession  drawn  up  by  Calvin,  Farel,  and  Viret, 
respecting  the  eucharist,  after  adding  a  few  words  to  express 
more  strongly  their  opinion  that  the  elements  were  not  mere 
symbols.^ 

We  will  now  revert  to  the  efforts  made  by  Farel  and  Cal- 
vin to  establish  their  schemes  of  church  government  and  dis- 
cipline at  Geneva.  These  proved  very  unpalatable  to  the 
great  body  of  the  people.  As  early  as  September,  1536,  many 
of  the  principal  citizens,  accompanied  by  great  numbers  of  the 
lower  classes,  had  demanded  an  audience  of  the  council ;  be- 
fore whom  they  protested  that  they  could  not  endure  the  re- 
proofs of  the  ministers,  and  that  they  wished  to  Hve  in  free- 
dom.'* The  confession  already  mentioned,  as  drawn  up  by 
Farel  and  Calvin,  was  printed  and  distributed  in  the  spring 
of  1537  ;  yet  it  did  not  seem  to  produce  much  impression, 

1  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  162. 

2  See  M.  Adamus,  Vila  Buceri,  p.  214. 

3  These  papers  are  in  Ruchat,  v.,  Pieces  jxistijicatives,  No.  2,  and  in  Cal- 
vin, Epp.  et  Resp.,  Epp.  348-351. 

4  "  Q,uelques  uns  dentre  les  principaux  citoyens,  et  un  grand  nombre 
d'autres,  ne  pouvant  point  endurer  les  ministres  qui  les  reprennent  de  leurs 
vices,  pi-otestent  devant  le  conseil  vouloir  vivre  en  liberte. "  —R6gistres  de 
la  R^pub.,  4  Sept.,  1536.     Grenus,  Fragm.  Biogr.  et  Hist. 


SCHEME  OF  DISCIPLINE.  71 

and  was  ill  received  on  all  sides.  The  article  respecting  ex- 
communication, which  put  a  great  deal  of  power  into  the 
hands  of  the  ministers,  by  enabling  them  to  exclude  the  re- 
fractory from  the  sacrament,  was  particularly  obnoxious.  Far 
from  giving  way,  however,  the  ministers  pressed  upon  the 
government  the  necessity  of  establishing  still  more  stringent 
rules  for  the  maintenance  of  religion ;  and  unless  this  were 
done,  Calvin,  who  was  bound  to  the  city  by  no  particular 
ties,  threatened  to  leave  Geneva.^  The  oath  taken  by  the 
people  toward  the  close  of  the  previous  year  to  observe  the 
confession  had  been  administered  collectively ;  but  now  Cal- 
vin and  his  colleagues  succeeded  in  persuading  the  government 
that  it  should  be  offered  to  them  individually.  The  ceremony 
accordingly  took  place  in  St.  Peter's  Church,  on  Sunday  the 
29th  of  July,  1537,  and  following  days.  After  a  sermon  by 
Farel,  the  town  secretary  mounted  the  pulpit,  and  read  tho 
confession  ;  after  which  the  people  were  brought  up  by  teni, 
and  sworn  to  the  observance  of  it  by  the  syndics.  Many, 
however,  especially  among  the  leading  people,  refused  com 
pliance  with  what  can  not  be  designated  otherwise  than  as 
an  act  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny.  One  of  their  grounds  of 
objection  was  that  the  Ten  Commandments  were  appended 
to  the  confession ;  and  it  must  be  owned  that  it  seems  an  ab- 
surd act  to  swear  a  man  to  the  observance  of  a  code  of  moral 
and  religious  duty.  The  council,  however,  were  so  devoted 
to  the  ministers,  that  at  their  instance  they  ordered  the  dis- 
affected to  leave  the  city.  But  they  were  too  numerous  to 
allow  of  this  measure  being  carried  into  effect ;  and  the  show 
of  such  an  inclination,  without  the  power  of  enforcing  it, 
only  rendered  the  malcontents  more  violent. 

Great,  indeed,  as  well  as  sudden,  were  the  alterations  now 
attempted  by  the  ministers.  The  transition  was  almost  as 
abrupt  and  striking  as  if  a  man,  after  spending  all  Saturday 
night  at  an  opera  or  masquerade,  should,  without  any  prep- 
aration, walk  into  a  Friends'  meeting  on  the  Sabbath  morn- 
ing. The  minds  of  the  people  had  not  been  prepared  for  it. 
Lively  and  excitable,  the  Genevese  citizen  had  till  recently 
indulged  in  an  almost  unbounded  license.  He  loved  dancing 
and  music,  and  when  the  season  allowed  of  it,  enjoyed  those 
amusements  in  the  open  air.  The  doors  of  numerous  wine- 
shops lay  always  invitingly  open  ;  and  in  rainy  weather,  or  to 
those  whose  dancing  days  were  over,  offered,  in  addition  to 

'  Ruchat,  v.,  55. 


72  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

their  liquor,  the  stimulus  of  a  game  of  cards.  Numerous 
holidays,  besides  Sundays,  released  the  wearied  tradesman 
from  his  warehouse  or  his  shop,  to  seek  recreation  in  the  form 
most  agreeable  to  him.  Masquerades  and  other  mummeries 
were  frequent,  but  above  all  a  wedding  was  the  source  of  su- 
preme excitement  and  delight.  As  the  bells  rung  out  a  joyous 
carol,  tlie  bride  repaired  to  church,  surrounded  by  her  female 
friends  and  companions,  each  adorned  as  fancy  led,  or  as  taste 
admonished  that  her  charms  might  be  set  oft"  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage ;  and,  on  returning  home,  the  fete  was  concluded  by 
feasting,  music,  dancing,  and  revelry.  Worship,  such  as  it 
was,  showed  the  cheerful  side  of  religion.  No  eternal  fiat  of 
reprobation  haunted  the  sinner  with  the  thoughts  of  a  doom 
which  it  was  iriipossible  to  escape.  Purgatory  opened  the 
way  to  paradise,  and  purgatory  could  be  abridged  by  the 
masses  of  the  priest.  Nay,  religion  shed  its  benign  influence 
even  over  the  temporal  aflairs  of  the  devout  Catholic ;  and  a 
few  credos  and  pater  nosters,  a  little  holy  water,  or  an  offer- 
ing at  the  shrine  of  the  patron  saint,  was  sufficient,  or  be- 
lieved to  be  sufticient,  to  avert  many  of  the  calamities  of  life. 
The  silver  tone  of  the  convent  bells,  echoing  from  the  mount- 
ains, or  stealing  softly  over  the  tranquil  surface  of  the  lake, 
preserved  all  within  their  sound  from  bad  weather,  ghosts,  en- 
chantments, and  even  Satan  himself  But  this  magic  power 
they  possessed  not  unless  the  priest  first  consecrated  them  to 
the  Virgin,  their  peculiar  patroness,  and,  as  it  were,  ruler  of 
the  air.  Bells  about  to  be  hung  were  carried  to  the  font 
dressed  out  like  a  child  to  be  baptized.  Sponsors  stood  for 
them,  and  in  this  guise,  as  in  a  real  baptism,  they  were 
sprinkled  with  water,  and  smeared  with  oil  and  chrism.  On 
these  occasions  costly  dinners  were  given,  and  even  in  poor 
villages  one  hundred  gold  crowns  were  sometimes  spent  in 
the  ceremony.^ 

Indulged  with  moderation,  many  of  the  relaxations  above 
alluded  to  were  innocent ;  but  it  must  be  admitted  that  they 
were  carried  to  excess  in  Geneva,  and  that  the  greatest  disso- 
luteness of  manners  prevailed.  Reckless  gaming,  drunkenness, 
adultery,  blasphemy,   and  all  sorts  of  vice  and  wickedness 

I  Hottinger,  ii.,  640.  Bells  were  generally  inscribed  with  the  words  Ave 
Maria,  or  sometimes  a  supplicatory  distich  or  two  to  the  Virgin.  If  a  con- 
secrated bell  happened  to  get  broken,  it  was  interred  in  the  church  like  a 
human  body.  See  an  instance  in  the  Registers  of  Geneva,  Jan.  8th,  1535 
(Grenus,  Fragmens  Historiques).  Genalis,  bishop  of  Avranche,  who  wrote 
a  book  against  the  Calvinists,  seriously  argued  that  bells  were  a  sign  of  the 
true  Church."— See  Hi<if.  des  Eglises  Ri.f.,  i.,  125. 


MANNERS  OF  THE  GENEVESB.  73 

abounded.  Prostitution  was  sanctioned  by  the  authority  of 
the  state,  and  the  pubHc  stews  were  placed  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  a  woman  elected  by  the  council,  and  called  the 
Reine  du  horclel.  The  registers  abound  with  entries  respect- 
ing the  regulation  of  these  Pandemoniums.^  If  the  manners 
of  the  laity  were  corrupt,  those  of  the  clergy  were  as  bad,  or 
worse.  The  authentic  documents  just  referred  to  bear  frequent 
evidence  of  their  profligacy.  The  canons  of  St.  Peter's,  whose 
office  conferred  upon  them  a  share  in  the  spiritual  government 
of  the  city,  were  particularly  notorious  for  their  misconduct. 
They  paraded  their  vices  with  so  much  effrontery,  that  in 
1530  the  Genevese  refused  to  pay  them  the  tithes,  which 
were  so  unblushingly  applied  to  the  purposes  of  debauchery ; 
and  they  were  obliged  to  solicit  the  interference  of  Friburgh 
in  order  to  obtain  their  money,''  Their  ignorance  was  on  a 
par  with  their  profligacy ;  and  during  the  progress  of  the 
Reformation,  the  Genevese  clergy  publicly  admitted  before 
the  council  that  they  were  not  learned  enough  either  to  main- 
tain or  to  refute  the  doctrine  of  the  mass,  and  the  authority 
of  human  traditions.^ 

That  these  vices  and  disorders  demanded  a  large  measure 
of  reform  can  not  be  disputed.  It  was  not,  however,  in  hu- 
man nature,  that  long  confirmed  habits  like  these  should  be 
extirpated  all  at  once  :  they  required,  rather,  to  be  gradually 
ameliorated  by  better  education  and  example.  Yet  such  was 
the  task  attempted  by  the  evangelical  ministers.  Nor  did 
they  stop  there ;  but  in  their  zeal  for  reforming  what  was 
wrong,  they  frequently  overstepped  the  bounds  of  discretion, 
and  confounded  what  was  really  innocent  in  the  same  anath- 
ema with  what  was  fundamentally  vicious.  Cards  and  dan- 
cing, plays  and  masquerades,  were  absolutely  prohibited,  as 
well  as  the  graver  vices  before  enumerated.  All  holidays, 
except  Sunday,  were  abolished,  and  that  was  observed  with 
the  strictness  of  the  Jewish  sabbath.  Marriage  was  ordered 
to  be  solemnized  with  as  little  show  as  possible.  Instead  of 
the  joyous  fete  it  had  hitherto  been,  it  was  converted  into  a 
purely  religious  ceremony,  and  sanctified  by  a  sermon.  If  the 
bride  or  her  companions  adorned  themselves  in  a  fashion  con- 
trary to  what  was  evangelized,  they  were  punished  with  im- 

1  See  P.  Henry,  i.,  152,  and  compare  Spon,  ii.,  45. 

2  Rachat,  ii.,  303. 

3  "  Les  pretres  declarent  par  labouche  de  Bxjlet  da  Pan  qu'ils  ne  sont  pas 
en  etat  ni  assez  savant  pour  soutenir  ou  pour  reprouver  la  messe  et  les  tra- 
ditions humaines." — R^gistres,  24  Nov.,  1535.  Grenus,  Fragm.  Biogr.,  sub 
anno. 

D 


74  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

prisonment.^  The  church  bells  were  dismantled  and  cast  into 
cannon  f  and  thus  their  cheerful  carols  converted  into  the 
harsh  thunder  of  war.  The  citizens  were  strictly  enjoined  to 
attend  the  sermons,  and  to  be  at  home  by  nine  o'clock  in  the 
evening ;  and  tavern  keepers  were  ordered  to  see  that  their 
customers  observed  these  regulations. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  these  unwonted  severities  should 
have  excited  many  persons  against  the  ministers.  By  degrees 
their  number  increased.  Many  of  those  who  had  sworn  to 
the  confession  began  to  join  them,  and  complained  that  they 
had  been  compelled  to  perjure  themselves.  They  soon  began 
to  assume  the  shape  of  an  organized  party,  calling  themselves 
"  Brothers  in  Christ,"  and  wearing  green  flowers  as  a  badge. 
By  February,  1538,  they  had  increased  so  much,  that  at  the 
annual  election  of  syndics  they  got  four  of  their  cabal  elected 
to  that  office,  three  of  whom  were  not  even  members  of  the 
council.^ 

The  quarrel  now  began  to  assume  something  of  a  political 
aspect.  The  malcontents  appealed  to  the  discipline  of  Berne, 
which  differed  in  several  points  from  that  of  Geneva,  and  thus 
endeavored  to  secure  the  influence  of  that  city  in  favor  of  their 
views.  The  Bernese  were  naturally  inclined  to  favor  a  party 
which  thus  made  them  the  arbiters  of  the  quarrel ;  and  as 
the  Reformation  had  been  introduced  at  Geneva  under  their 
auspices,  they  not  unreasonably  thought  that  some  deference 
should  be  paid  to  their  authority  on  the  points  in  dispute, 
especially  as  they  did  not  involve  any  important  questions  of 
doctrine  and  faith.  The  contested  points  were  these.  At 
Berne  they  used  stone  fonts  for  baptism  ;  they  celebrated  four 
fetes  during  the  year,  viz.,  Christmas,  New  Year's  Day,  the 
Annunciation,  and  the  Ascension,  and  they  administered  the 
sacrament  with  unleavened  bread."*  To  all  these  the  French 
ministers  at  Geneva  were  opposed  ;  and  especially  Farel,  who 
had,  indeed,  abolished  the  observance  of  these  festivals  before 
Calvin's  arrival  in  Geneva.^  The  latter  looked  upon  these 
things  as  in  themselves  indifferent ;  and.  we  shall  find  that 
subsequently,  in  order  to  avoid  disputes,  he  adopted  the  use 
of  unleavened  bread.  But  if  he  did  not  lay  much  stress  on 
the  things  themselves,  he  did  on  the  authority  of  the  clergy, 

1  "Une  epouse  etant  sortie  dimanche  dernier  avecles  cheveux  plus  abat- 
tus  qu'il  ne  se  doit  faire,  ce  qui  est  d'un  mauvais  exemple,  et  contraire  a  ce 
qu'on  leur  evangelise,  on  fait  mettre  en  prison  sa  niaitresse,  les  deux  qui 
I'ont  menee,  et  celle  qui  I'a  coifFee." — RSgisires,  20  Mai,  1537. 

2  Rigistres,  17  Juillet,  1534.  3  Ruchat^v.,  57. 

*  Spon,  ii.,  21.  5  See  Calvin's  letter  to  Haller,  Ep.  118. 


REVOLT  AGAINST  THE  DISCIPLINE.  75 

which  he  thought  might  be  seriously  compromised  by  yielding 
these  points,  or  by  his  differing  from  his  colleagues  respecting 
them ;  and,  therefore,  he  stood  stiffly  for  their  maintenance. 
But  though  these  were  made  the  ostensible  points  of  dispute, 
it  is  probable  that  what  was  really  desired  by  the  Libertines, 
as  the  anti-evangelical  party  was  called,  was  the  milder  disci- 
pline which  prevailed  at  Berne.  Thus  we  find  that,  in  that 
town,  brides  were  allowed  to  be  married  with  flowing  tresses  ; 
a  practice,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Genevese  ministers 
had  abolished,  to  the  displeasure  of  the  Bernese.^  In  the  year 
1537,  the  latter  remonstrated  with  the  Genevese  respecting 
the  dissensions  which  prevailed  among  them.  The  Genevese 
threw  the  blame  on  Farel,  and,  on  the  15th  of  December, 
sent  four  deputies  to  Berne  to  confer  on  the  matter.  Farel 
also  went ;  and  it  was  reported  that  on  this  occasion  he  rep- 
resented his  opponents  as  desirous  of  re-establishing  the  mass. 
There  seems  to  be  no  foundation  for  this  charge  against  him  ; 
yet  his  adversaries  used  it  as  a  pretext  to  render  him  still 
more  obnoxious. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Genevese  ministers  inveighed  loudly 
and  bitterly  from  their  pulpits  against  the  supineness  of  the 
magistrates,  and  their  negligence  in  maintaining  order ;  nor, 
as  the  four  syndics  were  now  of  the  opposite  party,  is  it  im- 
probable that  there  was  some  foundation  for  these  complaints. 
At  the  same  time  the  ministers  themselves  seem  to  have 
overstepped  the  bounds  of  decency  and  order.  An  event  that 
occurred  early  in  1538  tended  further  to  embroil  matters,  and 
to  give  them  a  still  more  political  turn.  A  gentleman,  named 
Montchenu,  in  the  service  of  the  King  of  France,  came  to 
Geneva,  and  endeavored  to  persuade  the  Genevese  to  put 
themselves  under  the  protection  of  that  monarch,  by  repre- 
senting the  Bernese  as  desirous  of  enslaving  them,  and  of  es- 
tablishing a  vidomne,  or  lieutenant  of  their  ow^n,  at  Geneva. 
Montchenu  also  undertook  that  Francis  should  fortify  their 
town,  transfer  two  fairs  from  Lyons  to  Geneva,  and  grant 
them  some  other  privileges.  The  Bernese  sent  a.  deputy  to 
Geneva  on  the  25th  of  February,  to  contradict  these  reports 
of  their  designs ;  but  before  his  arrival  Montchenu  had  de- 
parted. How  far  Calvin  and  his  colleagues  were  implicated 
m  this  affair  does  not  appear ;  but  that  they  were  so  in  some 
degree  we  can  hardly  doubt,  since  we  find  the  council  deposing 
from  office,  seven  members  of  their  own  body,  for  being  con- 
nected with  Montchenu's  intrigue,  and  who  had  sided  with 

^  Ruchat,  v.,  .58. 


76  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

the  ministers.  The  occasion  of  this  step  was  that  letters  from 
Montchenu  had  been  openly  delivered  to  these  councilors, 
while  present  at  a  general  assembly  on  the  3d  of  March. ^  It 
seems  probable  that  Calvin  and  Farel  may  have  inveighed 
against  this  exclusion  of  their  friends  from  the  council,  for  on 
the  11th  of  March  we  find  an  order  issued  forbidding  them  to 
meddle  with  politics,  or  to  speak  of  the  magistrates  in  the 
pulpit.^ 

Meanwhile  a  synod  which  the  Bernese  had  appointed  to  be 
held  at  Lausanne  in  mid-lent,  for  the  purpose  of  settling  the 
differences  which  prevailed  in  the  Church,  was  fast  approach- 
ing. Letters  were  sent  inviting  the  attendance  of  Farel  and 
Calvin,  but  on  condition  of  their  complying  with  the  rites  of 
Berne.  If  they  would  not  do  so,  they  were  to  be  allowed,  in- 
deed, to  attend  the  synod,  but  not  to  take  any  part  in  its  pro- 
ceedings ;  and,  if  they  had  any  thing  to  state,  they  were  to  be 
heard,  like  strangers,  after  the  sittings  were  closed.  The 
Church  of  Berne  was  rendered  still  more  indisposed  toward 
Calvin  and  Farel  at  this  time  by  a  change  in  its  ministers. 
Calvin's  friend,  Megander,  had  been  dismissed,  and  the  chief 
ministers  now  were  Sebastian  Meyer,  and  Peter  Kuntzen  (or 
Conz) ;  men  whom  Calvin  considered  unfit  for  their  office ; 
and  who,  on  their  part,  harbored  a  prejudice  against  him  and 
Farel.  Conz  was  a  rough,  boorish  character,  and  a  great  ad- 
mirer of  Luther,  under  whom  he  had  studied  at  Wittenberg. 
He  had  had  a  personal  quarrel  with  Farel,  in  which  he  dis- 
played the  greatest  violence.^  He  was  one  of  the  Bernese 
deputies  at  this  synod,  the  others  being  Erasmus  Bitter,  also 
a  minister,  and  two  members  of  the  great  council,  John  Huber 
and  John  Louis  Amman. 

Though  Calvin  and.  Farel  considered  the  conditions  on 
which  their  presence  was  required  at  Lausanne  somewhat 
extraordinary,  they  nevertheless  attended  the  synod.  The 
result  of  its  deliberations^  was  to  conform  to  the  rites  of 
Berne.  To  this  decision  Calvin  and  Farel  refused  to  submit. 
They  applied  to  the  president  of  the  synod  for  time  to  delib- 
erate ;  which  being  refused,  they  appealed  to  another  synod 
to  be  held  at  Zurich,  in  the  ensuing  April,  on  the  subject  of  a 
union  with  the  Lutherans.  The  council  of  Geneva,  on  the 
contrary,  wrote  to  the  Bernese  that  they  were  desirous  of  com- 

1  Ruchat,  v.,  61. 

2  "  On  defend  aux  predicateuvs,  et  en  particuUer  h.  Farel  et  a  Calvin,  de 
se  meler  de  politique." — R^gistres,  11  Mars,  1538.  Gfcerwi&yFragmens  Bio 
graphiqnes.     Ruchat,  v.,  62. 

3  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  165.  *  Ruchat,  iv.,  459. 


SYNOD  OF  LAUSANNE.  77 

plying  with  them  in  the  matter  of  the  ceremonies.  Hereupon 
the  latter  sent  them  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the 
synod,  and  requested  them  to  confer  with  Calvin  and  Farel, 
who  had  objected  to  the  three  contested  articles  :  viz.,  fonts, 
unleavened  bread,  and  the  four  festivals.  They  also  address- 
ed the  following  letter  to  those  ministers,  dated  the  15th  of 
April,  1538  : 

"Very  learned  and  dear  our   singular  good   Friends 
AND  Brothers  : 

"  Having  been  made  acquainted  with  the  conclusion  of  the 
synod  of  Lausanne,  as  well  as  your  speeches  at  that  place, 
and  partly  also  the  consultation  you  have  had  with  the  min- 
isters of  Strasburgh  and  Basle,  we  take  occasion  to  beg  and 
admonish  you  in  brotherly  love,  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  the 
advancement  of  unity,  that  you  will  be  pleased  to  accede  to 
the  said  conclusion,  that  the  church  of  Geneva  and  ours, 
which  are  united  as  to  the  fundamental  articles  of  faith,  may 
also  be  conformable  in  ceremonies ;  by  doing  which  you  will 
deprive  our  enemies  of  all  opportunity  of  calumniating  us. 
Wherefore,  we  beg  and  admonish  you,  earnestly  and  frater- 
nally, to  advise  with  your  magistrates,  to  whom  we  have 
written  concerning  this  affair,  and  to  come  to  such  a  resolution 
that  there  may  be  no  difference  between  us  :  taking  into  your 
consideration  that  the  disagreement  is  not  of  such  importance 
as  can  hurt  truth,  if  you  accept  the  three  articles  agreed  on 
by  all  the  ministers  at  the  said  synod ;  to  wit,  to  baptize  at 
the  font,  to  use  unleavened  bread  in  our  Lord's  Supper,  and 
to  observe  the  four  fetes.  May  it  please  you  to  condescend  to 
this  for  the  love  of  us,  and  for  the  sake  of  union  between  us, 
without  suspending  the  matter  till  the  meeting  which  is  to  be 
held  at  Zurich.  Meanwhile,  we  pray  God  give  you  the  grace 
to  live  holily. 

"  L'Avoyer,  and  Council  of  Berne. ^ 

'^ Datum  15  Aprilis,  1538." 

Nothing  could  be  more  conciliating,  and  even  flattering, 
than  for  an  independent  government,  like  that  of  Berne,  to 
address  such  a  letter  as  this  to  two  private  ministers  ;  and  as 
Calvin,  at  least,  entertained  no  serious  objection  to  the  cere- 
monies in  question,  and  as  they  had  been  unanimously  con- 
firmed by  so  large  a  body  of  the  clergy,  his  resistance  seems 
hardly  justifiable.     But  in  spite  of  this  letter,  as  well  as  of  the 

auchat,  iv.,  462. 


78  LIFP:  of  JOHN  CALVIN.  I^r 

representations  of  their  own  government,  he  and  Farel  per- 
sisted in  their  views ;  whereupon  the  Genevese  council  pro- 
tested against  them,  and  came  to  a  resolution  to  conform  to 
the  rites  of  Berne.  This  step  naturally  increased  the  excite- 
ment, and  emboldened  the  Libertine  party.  Troops  of  them 
paraded  the  town  by  night,  insulted  the  ministers  in  their 
homes,  and  threatened  to  throw  them  into  the  Rhone.  An 
indiscretion  of  Courault's  hastened  the  crisis.  The  injunction 
not  to  meddle  with  politics,  pubhshed  on  the  11th  of  March, 
did  not  seem  to  apply  so  particularly  to  himself,  as  to  his  col- 
leagues. Notwithstanding  his  blindness  and  his  age,  he 
caused  himself,  therefore,  to  be  led  into  the  pulpit,  where  he 
spoke  in  a  rude  and  insulting  manner  of  the  state  of  Geneva, 
comparing  it  with  the  kingdom  of  the  frogs,  and  the  citizens 
to  rats  which  lived  concealed  in  the  straw.^  He  was  imme- 
diately forbidden  the  pulpit ;  but  having  violated  this  injunc- 
tion, was  arrested  and  imprisoned.  Next  day  Farel  and  Cal- 
vin, attended  by  some  of  their  friends,  appeared  before  the 
council,  and  demanded  his  release.  The  council  refused,  and 
in  turn  directed  the  ministers  to  conform  to  the  usages  of 
Berne.  Calvin  and  Farel  requested  the  council  to  await  the 
decision  of  the  synod  appointed  to  meet  at  Zurich ;  and,  on 
the  latter  refusing,  not  only  declared  that  they  would  not  con- 
form to  the  Bernese  ceremonies,  but  that  they  would  not  ad- 
minister the  communion  on  Easter  Sunday,  one  of  the  ap- 
pointed days,  and  which  was  now  fast  approaching ;  alleging 
that  they  could  not  do  so  conscientiously  in  a  city  where  such 
debauchery  and  insubordination  prevailed.  On  the  Saturday 
before  Easter  the  council  again  sent  for  them,  and  exhorted 
them  to  use  unleavened  bread  in  the  communion  ;  and  as  they 
again  not  only  refused  to  do  this,  but  even  to  administer  that 
rite  at  all,  the  council  forbade  them  to  mount  the  pupit.^ 
Regardless  of  this  prohibition,  however,  they  both  preached 
twice,  Calvin  at  St.  Peter's  and  Farel  at  St.  Gervais's,  with- 
out any  communion ;  though  their  sermons  turned  on  the 
sacred  nature  of  that  rite,  and  the  necessity  that  it  should  not 
be  profaned.  This  created  a  great  disturbance.  Swords  were 
even  drawn,  but  the  affair  passed  over  without  bloodshed.'' 

Gn  the  following  morning  the  council  met  and  passed  sen- 
tence of  banishment  on  Farel  and  Calvin,  with  an  order  to 
quit  the  city  in  three  days.  On  this  being  announced  to  them 
they  exclaimed  :  "  Very  well ;  it  is  better  to  serve  God  than 

*  P.  Henry,  i.,  199.  2  gpon,  ii.,  23. 

3  Huchat,  v.,  65. 


INFLEXIBILITY  OF  FAREL  AND  CALVIN.  79 

man."^  Courault  was  also  released  from  prison  in  order  to 
accompany  his  colleagues  into  banishment.  These  sentences 
were  confirmed  by  the  couneil  of  Two  Hundred,  and  by  the 
general  assembly,  convened  specially  for  that  purpose.  No 
sooner  had  they  left  Geneva,  than  the  council  ordered  the 
decrees  of  the  Lausanne  synod  to  be  published  by  sound  of 
trumpet.  The  fonts  were  ordered  to  be  re-erected,  and  on 
the  following  Sunday  the  communion  was  administered  with 
unleavened  bread. 

On  quitting  Geneva,  Calvin  and  Farel  repaired  to  Berne 
to  lay  their  grievances  before  the  council  of  that  town,  and  to 
justify  their  conduct ;  while  Courault  went  to  Thonon,  to  his 
friend  Christopher  Fabri,  who  procured  him  a  situation  at 
Orbe,  where  he  died  in  the  October  following.  The  Bernese 
acted  in  this  affair  with  moderation  and  good  temper.  How- 
ever anxious  they  were  that  their  usages  should  be  observed, 
still,  as  they  were  things  indifferent,  they  thought  that  the 
Genevese  had  pushed  matters  too  far  in  banishing  their  min- 
isters for  non-compliance.  Accordingly  they  wrote  a  letter  on 
the  27th  of  April  to  the  Genevese  council,  in  which  they  ex- 
pressed their  displeasure  at  their  proceedings,  and  represented 
the  scandal  which  they  were  calculated  to  produce.  "  If," 
said  they,  "  we  wrote  to  you  to  solicit  your  conformity  with 
our  ceremonies,  we  did  it  out  of  friendship  toward  you,  and 
merely  by  way  of  request,  and  not  with  any  view  to  constrain 
either  you  or  your  ministers  in  respect  to  things  which  are 
indifferent."  But  to  this  letter  the  Genevese  paid  no  atten- 
tion.^ 

The  synod  of  Zurich,  which  had  been  fixed  for  the  29th  of 
April,  was  now  on  the  point  of  assembling,  and  thither  Calvin 
and  Farel  bent  their  steps.  The  proper  object  of  this  meeting 
was  to  effect  a  union  with  Luther.  It  was  attended  by  the 
deputies  of  the  Reformed  cantons  of  Switzerland.  The  Basle 
deputies  brought  with  them  Capito  and  Bucer  from  Stras- 
burgh,  whom  Luther  had  charged  to  explain  his  sentiments 
to  the  Swiss.  The  deputies  from  Berne  were  the  ministers 
Conz  and  Erasmus  Ritter,  and  the  councilor  Bernard  Till- 
mann. 

It  does  not  belong  to  our  subject  to  detail  the  proceedings 
of  this  assembly.     Calvin  and  Farel  seized  the  occasion  to 

^  ."  On  ordonne  d  Farel  et  a  Calvin  de  se  retirer  dans  trois  jours  paisqu'ils 
ne  veulent  pas  obeir  aux  magistrats ;  et  ils  r6pondent,  '  A  la  bonne  heure 
vaut  mieux  obeir  a  Dieu  qu'aiix  hommes.'  " — U^gistres,  23  Avril,  1538. 

?  S-uchat.  v..  68. 


80  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

complain  of  the  treatment  which  they  had  received  at  Gene- 
va ;  they  gave  a  deplorable  account  of  the  church  there,  and 
requested  the  protection  of  the  synod  not  only  for  it,  hut  for 
their  own  persons  ;  they  acknowledged,  at  the  same  time,  that 
they  might  have  been  too  hot  on  some  points,  and  declared 
their  readiness  to  be  advised  A  debate  ensued  respecting  the 
contested  articles,  on  the  occasion  of  Bucer  delivering  in  a 
paper  which  Calvin  had  drawn  up  in  Latin,  in  fourteen 
heads,  as  the  basis  on  which  he  and  Farel  were  willing  to 
accommodate  matters.  In  this  paper  the  disputed  points  were 
conceded,  but  with  some  trifling  modifications,  as  will  be  seen 
from  the  following  account  of  the  substance  of  it :  1.  Fonts  are 
admitted,  provided  baptism  be  administered  during  church 
hours,  and  that  the  service  be  recited  from  the  pulpit.  2. 
Also  the  use  of  unleavened  bread,  provided  it  be  broken.  3. 
The  four  festivals  observed  at  Berne  are  allowed,  provided 
they  be  not  too  strictly  enforced,  and  that  they  who  wished 
might  go  to  work  after  prayers.  4.  The  Bernese  were  to 
acknowledge  that  they  did  not  find  fault  with  the  method 
hitherto  used  at  Geneva  as  contrary  to  Scripture,  but  that 
their  sole  view  was  unity  in  ceremonies.  5.  If  the  Genevese 
ministers  were  restored,  they  were  to  be  allowed  to  exculpate 
themselves.  6.  Calvin's  scheme  of  church  discipline  was  to 
be  established.  7.  The  city  was  to  be  divided  into  parishes. 
8.  Sufficient  ministers  were  to  be  chosen  to  serve  the  different 
districts.  9.  The  German  method  of  excommunication  was 
to  be  adopted  ;  viz.,  the  council  was  to  choose  from  each  par- 
ish certain  worthy  and  discreet  men,  who  were  to  exercise  that 
power  in  conjunction  with  the  ministers.  10.  That  the  ordi- 
nation of  priests,  by  imposition  of  hands,  was  to  be  left  entirely 
to  the  clergy.  1 1 .  That  the  Bernese  were  to  be  requested  to 
come  to  an  accommodation  with  them  on  two  other  points ; 
viz.,  12.  First,  that  the  Lord's  Supper  should  be  more  fre- 
quently celebrated,  and  at  least  once  a  month.  13.  Second, 
that  psalm-singing  should  form  part  of  divine  service.  14. 
That  the  Bernese  should  prohibit  obscene  songs  and  dancing, 
as  their  example  was  always  pleaded  by  the  Genevese  in 
excuse.^ 

The  synod  admitted  the  importance  of  these  axticles,  and 
considered  them  a  proof  that  the  Genevese  ministers  were  not 
actuated  solely  by  obstinacy ;  but  at  the  same  time  recom- 
mended moderation  to  them,  and  Christian  mildness  in  their 

i  See  P.  Henry,!.,  Beil.  8. 


APPEAL  TO  THE  SYNOD  OF  ZURICH.        81 

dealings  with  a  rude  and  uneducated  people/  By  the  advice 
of  BuUinger,  the  chief  minister  at  Zurich,  a  letter  was  address- 
ed to  the  Genevese  in  favor  of  the  exiles ;  and  the  Bernese 
were  requested  to  support  the  application  by  sending  an  em- 
bassy to  Geneva.  The  Bernese  deputies  who  were  present  at 
the  synod  promised  to  exert  themselves  in  their  favor.  Calvin 
and  Farel  now  returned  to  Berne,  bearing  with  them  several 
letters  of  recommendation,  both  public  and  private.  In  that 
to  the  provost  of  Wattenwyl,  Bullinger  admits  that  they  are 
over-zealous,  but  thinks  it  may  be  pardoned  in  favor  of  their 
learning  and  piety. ^ 

In  Berne  fresh  trials  awaited  them.  The  treatment  they 
experienced  there  is  described  in  a  joint  letter  from  Farel  and 
Calvin  to  Bullinger,  dated  in  June,  1538.^  After  enduring 
much  insolence,  especially  from  Conz,  a  day  was  at  length 
fixed  for  hearing  them  ;  but  when  it  arrived,  they  were  told, 
after  waiting  tw^o  hours,  that  the  ministers  were  top  busy  with 
consistorial  causes  to  attend  to  them.  In  the  afternoon  they 
again  attended,  but  found  the  ministers  less  prepared  than 
before.  They  were  now  told  that  their  articles  required  time 
for  consideration.  Although  they  plainly  saw  that  they  were 
purposely  treated  with  indignity,  they  were  forced  to  dissem- 
ble their  feelings.  When  the  hearing  at  length  canxe  on, 
almost  every  syllable  of  their  articles  was  objected  to,  On 
coming  to  the  second,  respecting  the  breaking  of  the  bread, 
Conz  flew  into  a  violent  rage,  and  abused  them  roundly. 
His  colleagues  could  hardly  hold  him  down  at  his  desk.  Fa- 
rel, who  was  not  a  man  to  be  daunted  by  trifles,  was  sp  im- 
pressed by  the  scene  that  he  declared,  long  afterward,  that  it 
never  recurred  to  him  without  exciting  his  horror.''  Hitter, 
however,  seems  to  have  supported  the  exiles.  After  the  lapse 
of  some  days  they  were  called  before  the  council  of  Berne,  and 
required  three  times  in  one  hour  to  renounce  their  articles. 
Instead  of  complying,  they  insisted  on  the  necessity  for  uni- 
formity ;  and  when  the  Bernese  replied,  reasonably  enough, 
that  uniformity  had  been  already  adopted,  they  refused  to 
change  their  opinions,  on  the  ground  that  they  should  be 
sanctioning  thereby  the  proceedings  of  a  worthless  faction  at 
Geneva.  This  reply,  on  the  part  of  Calvin  and  Farel,  makes 
us  acquainted  with  the  true  motive  of  their  conduct,  which 
can  not  but  be  characterized  as  stiff  and  obstinate.     Never- 

1  Kirchhofer,  Leben  Farels,  i.,  246.  ^  Ibid. 

3  This  letter  will  be  found  in  Henry,  i.,  Beil.  9. 
*  Kirchhofer,  i.,  247. 


82  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

theless,  the  Bernege  magistrates  did  not  desert  them.  They 
sent  Viret  to  Geneva  to  endeavor,  by  his  sermons,  to  dispo&e 
the  minds  of  the  Genevese  to  a  milder  and  more  Christian 
conduct.  They  also  dispatched  two  councilors,  and  Erasmus 
E/itter,  to  accompany  the  exiles  to  Geneva,  and  to  endeavor 
to  get  them  restored.  But  at  a  little  distance  from  that  city 
they  were  met  by  a  messenger,  who  forbade  Calvin  and  Farel 
to  enter.  The  Bernese  embassadors  advised  them  to  comply 
with  this  injunction ;  and  it  was  fortunate  that  they  did  so, 
as  it  was  afterward  discovered  that  an  ambush  had  been  laid 
to  intercept  them  a  little  without  the  town,  and  that  the  gate 
itself  was  occupied  by  twenty  armed  assassins.^ 

The  Bernese  embassadors,  however,  proceeded  on  their 
road,  and  were  admitted  to  an  audience  of  the  Genevese  coun- 
cil on  the  22d  of  May.  They  represented,  in  strong  terms,  to 
the  Genevese  the  wrong  they  had  done  in  banishing  their 
ministers,  and  that  their  conduct  had  been  condemned  by  the 
synod  of  Zurich.  They  requested  that  the  exiles  might  be 
permitted  to  appear  ;  and  that,  on  making  a  suitable  apology, 
they  might  be  restored  to  their  places,  in  consideration  of  the 
eminent  services  which  Farel  had  rendered  to  Geneva.  And 
they  further  represented  that  each  of  them  had  declared,  be- 
fore the  council  of  Berne,  his  willingness  to  adopt  the  cere- 
monies in  dispute.^  But  their  intercession  was  in  vain.  The 
matter  was,  however,  referred  to  a  general  assembly  of  the 
people,  convened  for  the  26th  of  May.  In  this  assembly, 
Ludvig  Ammann,  one  of  the  Bernese  duputies,  as  well  as 
Viret,  made  eloquent  speeches  in  favor  of  the  exiles.  At  first 
they  seemed  to  make  a  favorable  impression  on  the  people,  till 
one  of  the  syndics  took  from  his  pocket  the  articles  which  had 
been  drawn  up  by  Calvin  at  Zurich,  and  read  them  aloud, 
making  invidious  comments  as  he  proceeded.  In  these  ar- 
ticles the  exiled  ministers  had  called  the  Genevese  their 
church,  and  had  mentioned  the  Bernese  council  without  its 
proper  title  of  honor.  "  See,"  cried  he,  "  how  they  call  the 
church  theirs,  as  if  they  had  already  gotten  possession  of  it, 
and  with  what  contumely  they  treat  their  superiors  I  But, 
above  all,  see  at  what  a  despotism  they  aim.  For  what  is 
excommunication  but  a  despotic  power  over  the  church  ?" 
Conz,  the  bitter  enemy  of  Farel  and  his  coadjutors,  had  sent 
these  articles  to  Vandel,  who  boasted,  before  the  embassy  ar- 
rived from  Berne,  that  he  had  got  the  condemnation  of  the 

1  Farel  and  Calvin  to  Bullinger,  apud  P.  Henry,  1.  c. 

2  Farel  and  Calvin  to  Bullinger. 


DECREE  OF  BANISHMENT  CONFIRMED.  83 

ministers  in  his  pocket.^  His  expectations  were  not  deceived. 
The  feehng  excited  against  them  was  so  strong,  that,  though 
a  few  wished  to  hear  their  defense,  others  drew  their  swords 
and  demanded  their  death.  The  decree  of  hanishment  was 
confirmed  almost  unanimously.* 

The  severity  of  this  decision  seems  almost  justified  by  the 
conduct  of  Calvin  and  Farel ;  but  the  only  parties  who  acted 
throughout  with  good  sense  and  Christian  moderation  were  the 
council  of  Berne. 

1  "  Se  venenum  nobis  letale  ferre." — Tb.    Henry,  1.  c.    Kirchhofer,  i.,  249. 
a  Ruchat,  v.,  85. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Calvin  proceeds  to  Basle — Accepts  a  Ministry  at  Strasburgh— Writes  to 
the  Church  of  Geneva — Attends  a  Diet  at  Frankfort— His  pecuniary  Diffi- 
culties— His  Marriage — Literary  Labors  at  Strasburgh — Caroli  again — 
Diets  of  Hagenau  and  "Worms — Diet  of  Ratisbon — State  of  Parties  at 
Geneva — The  new  Pastors  despised — Disorders — Negotiations  for  Cal- 
vin's Restoration — He  reluctantly  returns  to  Geneva. 

On  hearing  the  decision  of  the  general  assembly,  Calvin 
and  Farel,  who  had  stopped  at  a  little  distance  from  Geneva, 
returned  to  Berne,  and,  after  a  short  stay  at  that  place,  pro- 
ceeded to  Basle.  This  journey  they  made  on  horseback  in 
the  most  unfavorable  weather  ;  and  in  crossing  a  torrent 
swollen  by  the  rains,  were  nearly  swept  away.  The  cordial- 
ity of  their  reception  at  Basle  made  them  some  amends  for 
their  past  misfortunes.  Calvin's  old  acquaintance,  Grynseus, 
received  him  on  terms  of  the  most  friendly  intimacy ;  while 
Farel  took  up  his  abode  in  the  house  of  Oporinus  the  printer. 
Here  they  determined  to  abide  till  Providence  should  open  out 
some  new  course  to  them.  Viret's  friendship  induced  him  to 
pay  them  a  visit,  though  they  had  begged  him  not  to  do  so, 
lest  he  should  expose  himself  to  the  risk  of  giving  offense.^ 
Through  his  influence,  and  that  of  Christopher  Fabri,  Farel 
was  offered  the  ministry  of  Neufch^tel,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  place  gratefully  remembered  his  former  labors  among 
them  :  but  the  troubles  and  dangers  through  which  he  had 
recently  passed  had  damped  even  his  ardor  ;  and  at  first  he 
felt  disinclined  to  accept  the  offer.  He  foresaw  nothing  but 
difficulties  in  his  future  course,  and  was  disposed  to  dedicate 
himself  to  the  more  peaceful  pursuits  of  literature.  At  the 
exhortation,  however,  of  his  friends,  seconded  by  the  repre- 
sentations of  some  of  the  German  churches,  he  was  at  length 
induced  to  accept  the  offer  made  to  him,  but  with  the  stipu- 
lation that  he  should  be  empowered  to  introduce  his  scheme 
of  church  discipline.  He  accordingly  repaired  in  July  to  Neuf- 
ch^tel,  after  a  residence  of  about  seven  weeks  at  Basle.'' 

Meanwhile  Calvin  had  received  invitations  from  Bucer  to 
become  a  minister  of  the  church  at  Strasburgh.     This  office 

'  Kirchhofer,  ii.,  3.  2  juj^^^  \i^  4, 


HE  IS  OFFERED  A  MINISTRY  AT  STRASBURG,  85 

he  at  first  refused,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  oblige  him  to 
separate  himself  from  Farel.  Bucer,  however,  and  probably 
others  of  the  Reformed  ministers,  seem  to  have  thought  that 
the  separation  of  the  two  friends  would  prove  advantageous. 
Each  was  inclined  to  carry  his  zeal  beyond  the  bounds  of  dis- 
cretion ;  and  when  united,  they  mutually  encouraged  one 
another  in  a  line  of  conduct  which  impartial  observers  did  not 
look  upon  as  beneficial  to  the  Church.^  From  some  expres- 
sions which  we  find  in  a  letter  from  GrjmsBus,  in  answer  to 
one  which  he  had  received  from  Calvin  about  this  time,  it 
would  seem  that  the  latter  felt  conscious  that  his  conduct  at 
Geneva  had  not  been  altogether  justifiable  ;  and  that  a  genu- 
ine or  affected  penitence  was  one  of  the  reasons  which  he 
alleged  for  not  accepting  any  other  ministry  at  that  juncture.* 
But  Calvin's  real  sentiments  at  this  time  are  best  shown  in  a 
letter  which  he  addressed  to  his  former  colleague  Farel.  In 
this  he  mentions  that  a  person  with  whom  he  was  in  corre- 
spondence was  in  hopes  that  one  of  their  chief  opponents  at 
Geneva  (probably  Vandel),  and  the  councilors  who  had  been 
hitherto  inimical  to  them,  might  perhaps  be  reconciled  if  they 
(Calvin  and  Farel)  would  first  write  them  a  letter  expressing 
their  good  will.  "  This  is  so  ridiculous,"  he  continues,  "  that 
Bucer  himself  makes  no  account  of  it.  Even  suppose  such  a 
thing  could  be  hoped,  yet  how  could  we  begin  it  ?  Shall  we 
endeavor  to  propitiate  them  as  if  we  were  the  cause  of  the 
quarrel  ?  And  though  we  should  not  decline  to  do  so,  what 
means  will  there  be  of  wiping  out  offenses  ?  For  my  part  I 
am  of  opinion  that  neither  what  is  past  can  be  amended,  nor 
the  future  properly  provided  for,  in  that  manner.  For  though 
we  should  confess  before  God  and  his  people  that  it  is  partly 
through  our  inexperience,  sloth,  negligence,  and  error,  that 
the  church  committed  to  us  hath  so  miserably  collapsed ;  yet 
it  is  our  duty  to  assert  our  innocence  and  purity  against  those 
by  whose  fraud,  malice,  dishonesty,  and  wickedness,  such  ruin 
hath  been  brought  about.  I  will  therefore  willingly  acknowl- 
edge, before  God  and  all  good  men,  that  our  ignorance  and 

1  "Bucer  advises  that  good  care  should  be  taken  that  we  be  not  joined 
together;  as  he  suspects  that  we  shall  mutually  impel  one  another  in  a 
course  to  which  each  of  himself  is  more  than  sufficiently  inclined." — Calvin 
to  Farel,  Aug.  4th,  1538  (MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  i.,  206). 

2  "Even  admitting  that  it  is  by  your  own  grievous  fault  that  the  Church 
of  Christ  is  thus  ruined  at  Geneva ;  yet  that  repentance  will  not  be  a  pious 
one,  by  which,  in  the  present  dearth  of  competent  ministers,  you,  who  are 
adorned  with  so  excellent  gifts,  not  for  your  own  benefit  but  for  that  of  the 
Church,  should  reiect  the  proposed  ministry." — Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp., 
Ep.  8 


86  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

carelessness  were  worthy  of  such  a  punishment ;  but  I  will 
never  concede  that  that  unhappy  church  hath  fallen  through 
our  fault :  for  in  the  sight  of  God  we  are  conscious  of  the  re- 
verse. Nor  is  there  a  man  who  can  ascribe  to  us  the  smallest 
portion  of  blame.  Moreover,  who  does  not  see  that  by  this 
conduct  we  should  become  a  laughing-stock  in  future  ?  For 
every  one  would  immediately  cry  out,  that  provided  we  could 
get  restored,  we  were  willing  to  submit  to  any  disgrace.  God, 
I  trust,  will  open  out  a  better  path  for  our  return.  For  Bucer 
hath  not  yet  left  off  writing  to  Geneva,  whose  authority  they 
can  not  well  despise,  though  they  will  appear  to  despise  it, 
unless  they  at  length  make  some  concessions  to  him.  His 
ultimate  hope  is  that  even  if  he  does  not  obtain  a  conference 
before  next  spring,  he  shall  then  at  least  be  able  to  find  some 
remedy.  And  perhaps  the  Lord  foresees  that  this  is  for  the 
best,  in  order  that  meanwhile  things  may  come  to  a  greater 
state  of  maturity."^ 

From  this  letter  we  perceive  that  Calvin  was  far  from  de- 
spairing of  being  ultimately  restored  to  his  ministry  at  Gen- 
eva, but  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  not  to  return  thither 
except  on  his  own  terms.  His  "penitence,"  therefore,  for  his 
faults  at  Geneva,  would  hardly  have  been  the  cause  of  his 
refusing  'a  ministry.  Nobody  will  accuse  either  him  or  Farel 
of  "ignorance  and  carelessness"  in  their  conduct — the  sole 
errors  which  he  is  ready  to  acknowledge.  Their  fault  rather 
lay  on  the  other  side  :  in  a  desire  to  be  wiser  than  their  breth- 
ren, and  in  an  over-care  and  anxiety  that  every  thing  should 
be  carried  exactly  according  to  their  own  wishes.  As  it  ap- 
pears, from  the  foregoing  letter,  that  Bucer  was  interesting 
himself  to  obtain  their  restitution,  it  is  probable  that  Calvin 
did  not  wish  to  settle  in  any  other  place  while  there  was  a 
prospect  of  his  speedy  return  to  Geneva ;  and  that  when  that 
was  delayed,  he  was  compelled,  by  pecuniary  necessity,  to  ac- 
cept the  situation  which  had  been  offered  to  him  at  Strasburgh. 
By  Farel' s  appointment  to  Neufchatel,  his  scruple  about  part- 
ing from  his  friend  had  been  removed.  But  whatever  might 
have  been  his  motives,  it  is  certain  that  in  September,  1538, 
he  had  left  Basle  for  Strasburgh.  The  former  town  he  seems 
to  have  quitted  precipitately. 

Strasburgh  was  at  that  time  a  free  and  imperial  city.  The 
chief  ministers  of  the  Reformed  Church  then  settled  there 
were  Bucer,  Capito,  Sturm,  Hedio,  and  Niger,  by  all  of  whom 
Calvin  was  received  with  open  arms.     The  council  of  Stras- 

^  Ep.  9. 


HE  WRITES  TO  THE  CHURCH  OF  GENEVA.  87 

burgh  appointed  him  professor  of  theology,  with  a  moderate 
salary.  He  likewise  became  pastor  of  a  congregation  of  French 
refugees  in  that  city,  which  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  intro- 
duce his  discipline  in  its  fullest  extent.^  This  church  increased 
wonderfully  under  his  superintendence.  A  great  many  French 
were  attracted  to  Strasburgh  by  his  presence  ;  not  only  youths, 
who  came  for  the  purpose  of  instruction,  but  men  of  mature 
age  and  extensive  literary  acquirements.^ 

But  Calvin's  views  were  still  directed  toward  Geneva.  On 
the  1st  of  October  he  addressed  a  long  epistle  to  his  beloved 
brother,  who  composed  the  "  Relics  of  the  Dispersed  Church 
of  Geneva."^  In  this  he  compares  himself  with  Daniel,  and 
justifies  his  conduct  by  the  example  of  that  prophet's  conduct 
toward  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon.  "  For  this,"  says 
he,  "  hath  been  the  conduct  of  the  servants  of  God  in  their 
greatest  straits  ;  that,  from  whatever  side  evils  might  threaten 
them,  they  always  turned  their  minds  toward  God  and  their 
own  sins,  so  as  to  impute  it  to  themselves  that  they  were  so 
treated  by  the  Lord.  For  Daniel  knew  the  wickedness  of 
the  king  of  Babylon,  in  oppressing  and  destroying  God's  peo- 
ple for  the  sake  of  gratifying  his  own  selfish  avarice,  ambi- 
tion, and  lawlessness.  He  knew,  I  say,  how  wrongfully  the 
Jews  were  treated  by  that  tyrant :  nevertheless,  he  imputes 
the  chief  cause  to  himself  and  his  household  (Dan.,  ix.,  5),  as 
he  was  convinced  that  the  Babylonians  could  have  done  noth- 
ing against  them  by  their  own  power.  Therefore  he  properly 
begins  by  a  confession  as  well  of  his  own  sins  as  of  those  of 
the  king  and  people.  But  if  so  great  a  prophet  humbled 
himself  in  that  manner,  let  us  consider  how  much  reason  we 
have  to  imitate  him.  As  to  what  concerns  myself  person- 
ally," he  continues,  "  if  I  have  to  plead  my  cause  against  the 
wicked  slanderers  who  would  oppress  me,  I  can  say,  not  only 
that  my  conscience  acquits  me  before  God,  but  that  I  have 
abundant  means  to  purge  myself  before  the  whole  world. 
And  this  I  showed  sufficiently,  when  I  ofiered  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  my  conduct  before  all,  and  therefore  even  before  my 
adversaries.  For  surely  he  must  be  convinced  of  his  right 
who  offers  himself  for  trial  in  such  a  manner  that,  except  in 
his  certainty  of  that  right,  he  must  be  in  all  other  respects  at 
a  disadvantage.     But  by  what  I  said  before  of  God's  judg- 

1  B/Uchat,  v.,  86. 

2  Sturm,  Antipappus,  iv.,  21,  quoted  by  Henry,  i.,  226. 

3  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  10.     It  will  be  found  in  the  original  French 
in  Ruchat,  v.,  App.  4. 


88  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ment,  I  mean  that  I  acknowledge  I  am  not  undeservedly  thus 
humiliated  by  him,  in  order  that  I  may  be  reminded  of  my 
ignorance,  imprudence,  and  other  infirmities.  These  are  my 
sentiments  concerning  myself;  and  I  thus  acknowledge  my 
defects  before  God's  Church.  Nor  by  these  animadversions 
on  my  own  conduct  shall  I  render  the  cause  of  my  adversa- 
ries superior  to  my  own.  For  neither  did  Daniel  intend  to 
exonerate  Nebuchadnezzar  when  he  ascribed  the  destruction 
of  the  Jews  to  their  own  sins,  though  it  proceeded  from  his 
tyranny.  On  the  contrary,  that  rather  tended  to  heap  re- 
proach upon  the  tyrant,  since  it  thus  appeared  that  he  was  but 
God's  scourge,  and  that  Satan  and  his  satellites  occupied  the 
first  place."  There  seems  to  be  a  good  deal  of  pride  in  this 
sort  of  humiliation. 

In  the  spring  of  1539  Calvin  was  induced,  by  Bucer  and 
Capito,  to  attend  the  diet  assembled  at  Frankfort,  whither  he 
was  accompanied  by  Sturm  and  other  friends.^  The  German 
Protestant  princes  were  assembled  in  that  town  for  the  pur- 
pose of  considering  the  state  of  religion,  and  the  expediency 
of  peace  with  the  emperor.  It  was  at  that  time  part  of 
Charles's  policy  to  foment  the  divisions  between  the  Lutheran 
and  Swiss  churches,  from  the  latter  of  which  he  also  wished 
to  detach  the  Reformers  of  Strasburgh ;  and  one  of  Calvin's 
motives  for  this  journey  was  to  watch  over  the  interests  of 
those  who  adhered  to  the  Swiss  confession.  He  was  also  de- 
sirous of  making  the  personal  acquaintance  of  Melancthon, 
who  was  to  attend  this  diet,  and  of  conferring  with  him  on 
the  prospects  of  the  Protestant  Church.  He  had  previously 
forwarded  some  propositions  respecting  the  eucharist  to  Me- 
lancthon, with  a  view  to  discover  if  there  was  really  any  dif- 
ference between  them  on  that  subject.  His  interview  with 
that  Reformer  at  Frankfort  convinced  him  that  their  senti- 
ments, as  to  that  doctrine,  entirely  coincided.^  Melancthon, 
however,  never  openly  departed  from  Luther's  views,  either 
from  a  love  of  peace,  or  rather,  perhaps,  because  Luther's 
vehement  temper  held  him  in  constant  awe  and  subjection ; 
and  as  the  majority  of  the  German  Protestants  were  likewise 
favorable  to  Luther's  doctrine,  there  appeared  but  little  pros- 
pect of  an  agreement  between  them  and  the  Swiss  churches. 
During  this  interview  Calvin  remonstrated  against  the  numer- 

1  The  particalars  of  this  journey  will  be  found  in  two  lettei-s  to  Farel  in 
March,  1539,  Epp.  12,  13. 

2  "  Testatus  est  niihi  (Melancthon)  nihil  se  aliud  sentire  quam  quod  meia 
verbis  expressissem." — MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  i.,  244,  "  De  ipso  nihil 
dubita  quin  penitus  nobiscum  sentiat." — Ep.  12. 


HE  ATTENDS  A  DIET  AT  FRANKFORT.  89 

ous  ceremonies  still  retained  by  the  Lutherans.  Melancthon 
pleaded  the  necessity  of  the  case  ;  and  Calvin'did  not  see  any 
reason  why  this  circumstance  should  prevent  them  from  form- 
ing a  common  league  for  the  defense  of  Protestantism.^ 

At  this  diet  the  Protestant  princes  showed  more  firmness 
and  resolution  than  had  been  expected  of  them.  Even  the 
Elector  of  Saxony,  who  had  hitherto  been  for  postponing 
matters,  expressed  an  inclination  to  declare  war  against  the 
emperor ;  and  such,  at  first,  appears  to  have  been  the  gen- 
eral feeling  of  the  assembly.  But  the  arrival  of  the  Count 
Palatine,  and  Joachim  of  Brandenburgh,  bearing  letters  from 
Charles,  as  also  of  a  Spanish  prelate,  who  acted  as  his  em- 
bassador, all  of  whom  were  invested  with  powers  plenipoten- 
tiary to  treat  for  a  pe^ce,  turned  the  scale  the  other  way. 
As  both  Joachim  and  the  Count  Palatine,  and  especially  the 
former,  were  regarded  as  favorable  to  the  Protestants,  their 
mediation  was  viewed  with  the  less  suspicion.  Their  most 
efiective  argument  was  the  danger  which  impended  from  the 
Turk,  who  would  be  ready  to  invade  Germany  when  he  saw 
it  torn  by  intestine  dissensions. 

Embassadors  from  England  attended  this  diet  to  invite 
Melancthon  thither  to  further  some  reforms  then  in  progress ; 
but  though  the  German  princes  were  disposed  to  send  some 
legation  to  England,  it  was  suspected  that  the  softness  of 
Melancthon's  temper  would  disqualify  him  for  the  office.  In 
one  of  his  letters  ^  from  Strasburgh,  Calvin  describes  the  mis- 
erable state  of  the  Pveformation  in  England.  "  Henry  him- 
self," he  says,  "  is  but  half  instructed.  He  prohibits  the  mar- 
riage of  his  clergy  by  the  severest  penalties  short  of  deprivation. 
He  uses  daily  masses,  and  retains  the  seven  sacraments  ;  and 
thus  he  has  a  mutilated  gospel,  and  a  church  stufied  with  tri- 
fling observances.  He  had  prohibited  all  translations  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  had  recently  issued  a  proclamation  to  forbid 
the  reading  of  them.  Nay,  he  had  even  burned  a  just  and 
learned  man  for  denying  the  real  Presence."  In  such  a  state 
of  thmgs,  and  where  so  many  comphances  would  be  expected, 
Calvin  was  of  opinion  that  even  Bucer  would  be  an  unfit  per- 
son to  send  into  England,  since  his  zeal  for  spreading  the  gos- 
pel was  such  that  he  was  content  to  overlook  some  not  unim- 
portant points,  provided  he  could  carry  the  main  ones. 

Calvin  seems  to  have  staid  but  a  short  time  at  Frankfort, 
and  to  have  quitted  that  city  before  the  diet  was  concluded. 
Bucer  remained  behind.     Some  letters  to  Farel,  written  from 

1  Ep.  15.  2  Ep.  13. 


90  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Strasburgh  in.  April  and  May,  1539,  show  Calvin  s  multifa- 
rious occupations  at  this  time.^  He  was  now  preparing  the 
second  edition  of  his  "  Institutes"  for  the  press.  In  the  first 
of  these  letters  he  says,  "  I  do  not  recollect  a  day  in  which  I 
was  more  overwhelmed  with  business  of  various  sorts.  A  mes- 
senger was  waiting  for  the  first  portion  of  my  book,  so  that  I 
had  to  revise  about  twenty  pages ;  add  to  this  that  I  was  to 
lecture,  to  preach,  to  vnrite  four  letters,  to  dispatch  some  con- 
troversies, and  to  answer  more  than  ten  appellants.  You  will, 
therefore,  excuse  the  brevity  and  inaccuracy  of  this  reply." 
Negotiations  had  been  still  going  on  for  his  return  to  Geneva, 
but  Calvin  was  now  beginning  to  give  them  up  as  hopeless. 
In  the  second  of  these  letters  he  says,  "  What  Talearis  wrote 
about  our  return  is  not,  I  think,  in  progress,  for  I  have  heard 
nothing  from  him  since."  He  states  that  he  was  losing  all 
anxiety  about  it,  and  expresses  his  opinion  that  Farel  and 
himself  should  return  together  :  for  that  otherwise  he  (Cal- 
vin) would  seem  to  be  restored  through  favor,  and  that  what 
was  due  to  the  cause  had  been  conceded  to  the  person.  He 
also  expresses  an  apprehension  of  the  difficulties  which  would 
await  him  there.  He  found  some  trouble  even  at  Strasburgh 
in  enforcing  his  discipline  ;  but  at  Geneva  he  thought  it  would 
be  overwhelming. 

This  correspondence  affords  a  glimpse  of  Calvin's  pecuniary 
difficulties  at  this  time.  From  his  letter  to  Farel,  in  March, 
we  find  that  he  was  in  debt  to  him,  and  without  any  imme- 
diate prospect  of  repaying  a  single  penny. '^  In  a  subsequent 
letter  we  find  a  still  more  deplorable  account  of  his  embar- 
rassments, which  had  been  increased  by  the  expenses  of  his 
journey  to  Frankfort.  These,  however,  he  expected  would 
be  defrayed  by  what  he  was  to  receive  from  Wendelin,  the 
bookseller,  who  was  printing  his  book.  But  for  the  means  of 
his  ordinary  subsistence  till  the  ensuing  winter,  he  could  look 
only  to  the  sale  of  his  library,  which  was  still  at  Geneva  ;  and 
beyond  that  period  he  must  rely  on  Providence.  Of  the  many 
friends  he  had  formerly  had  in  France,  not  one  had  offered 
him  a  penny,  except  a  certain  Louis,  whose  offers  of  assistance 
were,  however,  accompanied  with  a  sort  of  exhortation  to 
recant,  and  the  appellation  of  a  renegade  from  the  Church ! ' 
We  may  imagine  the  effect  of  such  advice  on  a  mind  like 
Calvin's.  In  another  letter  to  Farel,  dated  on  the  27th  of 
Tuly,  1539,^  he  relates  the  failure  of  an  attempt  to  get  hi^ 

1  See  Epp.  14,  15,  16.  '  Ep.  12. 

3  Ep.  15.  *  MS.  Gen,,  apiid  P.  Heury  i.,  405. 


HIS  PECUNIARY  DIFFICULTIES.  91 

salary  as  theological  lecturer  increased ;  in  consequence  of 
which  he  instructs  Farel  to  sell  his  books.  They  were  not 
to  be  sold  under  nine  batzen  each,  except  any  body  should 
take  a  quantity,  when  they  might  go  for  eight ;  a  sum  equal 
to  about  a  shilling.  This  must  have  been  a  bitter  step  for  a 
literary  man  like  Calvin,  and  could  only  have  been  wrung 
from  him  by  hard  necessity.  The  straits  to  which  he  was 
reduced  at  this  time  may  be  inferred  from  a  letter  which  he 
addressed  some  years  afterward  to  Myconius,^  in  which  he 
relates  that  a  certain  Alberge  had  visited  him  when  at  Stras- 
burgh,  and  .borrowed,  or  rather,  he  says,  extorted,  twenty 
batzen  from  him  (about  half-a-crown) ;  but  as  he  had  sold 
his  books,  and  as  his  funds  were  completely  exhausted,  he 
was  obliged  to  borrow  this  paltry  sum  in  order  to  lend  it  to 
Alberge,  by  whom  he  got  completely  cheated. 

Yet  in  spite  of  the  distressed  state  of  his  pecuniary  affairs, 
Calvin  was  at  this  time  looking  for  a  wife  to  help  him  to  bear 
his  burdens.  Calvin  in  love  is  indeed  a  peculiar  phase  of 
his  history.  He  had  now  arrived  at  the  sufficiently  mature 
age  of  thirty ;  and  as  his  imagination  had  never  been  very 
susceptible,  so,  in  the  business  of  choosing  a  helpmate,  he  was 
guided  wholly  by  motives  of  prudence  and  convenience.  In 
fact  he  left  the  matter  entirely  to  his  friends,  just  -as  one 
would  buy  a  horse  or  any  other  thing ;  giving  them  instruc- 
tions as  to  the  sort  of  article  he  wanted.  Writing  to  Farel 
on  the  19th  of  May,  1539,  he  says,  "I  will  now  speak  more 
plainly  about  marriage.  I  know  not  if  any  one  mentioned 
to  you  her  whom  I  wrote  about  before  the  departure  of 
Michael ;  but  I  beseech  you  ever  to  bear  in  mind  what  I 
seek  for  in  a  wife.  I  am  not  one  of  your  mad  kind  of  lovers 
who  doat  even  upon  faults  when  once  they  are  taken  by 
beauty  of  person.  The  only  beauty  that  entices  me  is  that 
she  be  chaste,  obedient,  humble,  economical,  patient ;  and 
that  there  be  hopes  that  she  will  be  solicitous  about  my 
health.  If  therelbre  you  think  it  expedient  that  I  should 
marry,  bestir  yourself,  lest  somebody  else  anticipate  you.j 
But  if  you  think  otherwise,  let  us  drop  the  subject  altogeth- 
er."^ In  fact  Calvin's  wretched  health,  even  at  this  period 
of  his  life,  led  him  to  seek  for  a  nurse  rather  than  a  wife. 
From  another  letter  to  Farel,  dated  the  6th  of  February, 
1540,^  it  appears  that  a  young  German  lady,  rich,  and  of 
noble  birth,  had  been  proposed  to  him.     Both  the  brother  of 

1  Ep.  54.  2  Ep.  16. 

3  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  i.,  408. 


92  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

the  lady  and  his  wife  were  anxious  that  Calvin  should  espouse 
her.  The  latter,  however,  scrupled  on  two  grounds  ;  because 
the  lady  was  unacquainted  with  French,  and  because  he  was 
afraid  that  she  might  think  too  much  of  her  birth  and  educa- 
tion. If  the  marriage  was  to  take  place  he  insisted  that  his 
bride  should  learn  French ;  but  on  her  requiring  time  to  con- 
sider of  this,  Calvin  dispatched  his  brother  and  a  friend  to 
fetch  him  home  another  lady,  and  congratulates  himself  on 
the  escape  he  has  had.  He  speaks  in  high  terms  of  his  fresh 
choice.  Matters  had  gone  so  far  that  he  invited  Farel  to 
come  and  officiate  at  his  wedding,  which  was  to  take  place 
before  the  10th  of  the  following  March.  It  appears,  how- 
ever, from  another  letter  to  the  same  friend,  dated  on  the 
21st  of  June,  1540,^  that  this  match,  of  which  he  had  thought 
so  highly,  was  also  broken  of  His  brother  Anthony  and  an- 
other friend  had  actually  arranged  the  marriage ;  but  a  few 
days  after  their  return  to  Strasburgh,  Calvin  heard  some  par- 
ticulars regarding  the  lady  which  induced  him  to  send  his 
brother  back  to  cancel  the  contract.  After  these  failures 
Calvin  expresses  a  doubt  whether  he  should  prosecute  his 
matrimonial  project  any  further.  Soon  afterward,  however, 
by  the  advice  of  Bucer,  he  married  Odelette  or  Idelette  de 
Bures,.the  widow  of  an  Anabaptist  at  Strasburgh,  whom  he 
had  converted.  Idelette  is  represented  as  a  fine  woman  ; 
but  it  does  not  appear  whether  she  brought  her  husband  any 
money.  According  to  the  customs  of  the  times  Calvin  wished 
his  wedding  to  be  celebrated  with  all  possible  solemnity.  He 
invited  the  consistories  of  Neufchatel  and  Valengin,  who  sent 
deputies.  Idelette  had  several  children  by  her  former  mar- 
riage, in  whom  Calvin  seems  to  have  taken  some  interest. 
By  Calvin  she  had  only  one  child ;  a  son,  who  died  shortly 
after  his  birth. ** 

Calvin's  position  at  Strasburgh  afforded  him  a  good  deal 
more  leisure  for  literary  pursuits  than  he  could  command  at 
Geneva.  The  post  he  filled  there  was  but  a  subordinate  one, 
and  the  routine  of  his  duties  regular  and  defined ;  nor  had  he 
to  struggle,  as  at  Geneva,  for  the  maintenance  of  a  church, 
and  of  a  system  of  discipline,  violently  opposed  from  many  dif- 
ferent quarters  at  once.     It  was  during  this  period  that  his 

^  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  i.,  p.  409. 

^  Some  Roman  Catholic  writers  have  represented  Calvin's  marriage  as 
altogether  ban-en,  by  the  curse  of  God;  but  this  is  not  strictly  correct. 
Calvin  himself  says,  in  his  "  Answer  to  Baudouin,"  "  The  Lord  gave  me  a 
son,  but  soon  depi'ived  me  of  him  :  and  this  my  want  of  children  Baudouin 
reckons  among  my  disgraces." — Opera,  viii.,  320  A.,  Amst.  ed. 


HIS  LITERARY  LABORS  AT  STRASBURGH.  93 

theological  studies  were  most  successfully  prosecuted ;  and 
those  exegetical  works  begun  whose  excellence  has  been  less 
contested  than  that  of  some  of  his  other  productions,  and  on 
which  his  literary  fame  chiefly  rests.  We  have  already  ad- 
verted to  the  second,  or  perhaps,  more  properly  speaking,  the 
third  edition  of  his  "  Institutes,"  which  he  pubhshed  at  Stras- 
burgh  in  1539.  This  contains  every  thing  essential  that  is 
to  be  found  in  the  last  edition  published  by  Calvin  himself 
at  Geneva,  in  1559,  from  the  press  of  Stephanus  ;  though  the 
latter  is  much  superior  in  clearness  and  method.^  We  have 
already  remarked,  as  a  trait  in  Calvin's  character  which 
strongly  contrasts  with  the  open  boldness  of  Luther,  that  he 
published  this  edition  under  the  pseudonym  of  Alcuin,  which 
Ibrms  an  anagram  of  his  name.  This  work  shows  that  he 
was  still  occupied  in  his  banishment  with  his  scheme  of 
Church  discipline,  the  whole  of  which  is  found  developed  in  the 
eighth  chapter.^  In  the  same  year  he  also  published  at  Stras- 
burgh  his  Commentary  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  a 
work  bearing  the  distinguishing  marks  of  his  exegetical  style — 
clearness  and  brevity.  Calvin's  mind  was  essentially  logical. 
Never,  perhaps,  has  there  existed  so  ardent  a  theologian  with 
so  little  tincture  of  superstition  or  enthusiasm.  Hence  he 
would  never  undertake  a  commentary  on  the  Revelations ; 
and  Bodin  relates,  that  on  being  asked  his  opinion  of  that 
book,  he  replied,  that  he  was  totally  ignorant  of  the  meaning 
of  that  obscure  writer.^  This  is  the  more  remarkable  in  an  age 
when  the  best  intellects  had  not  entirely  succeeded  in  freeing 
themselves  from  the  trammels  of  superstition.  On  the  other 
hand,  this  turn  of  mind  sometimes  led  him  to  interpret  Scrip- 
ture too  strictly  and  literally,  and  to  turn  into  demonstration 
points  which  must  be  left  to  faith,  or  even  to  speculation. 

It  was  also  in  1539  that  Calvin  published  his  answer  to 
Cardinal  Sadolet.  That  prelate,  who  had  been  for  many 
years  Bishop  of  Carpentras,  in  Dauphine,  and  who  had  been 
recently  presented  with  a  cardinal's  hat,  was  a  man  of  irre- 
proachable life,  and  considerable  literary  attainments.  He, 
like  Contarini  and  others,  was  one  of  those  moderate  church- 
men who,  while  they  admitted  the  necessity  for  some  reform, 
were  unwilling  to  give  up  the  essential  tenets  of  Romanism  ; 
and  who,  in  the  pontificate  of  Leo  X.,  had  founded  the  Ora-^ 
torij  at  Rome,  for  purposes  of  mutual  edification.  The  ex 
pulsion  of  the  ministers  from  Geneva  seemed  to  present  a 
favorable  opportunity  for  winning  back  that  important  city 

'   P   nonry.  i.,  -'^t^.  ^  /^.^  p   -220.  3  See  Bayle,  Calvin. 


94  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

to  the  bosom  of  the  Church.  Accordingly,  Sadolet,  in  com- 
phaiLce  with  the  wishes  of  the  Pope,  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
council  and  burgesses  of  Geneva,  dated  on  the  18th  of  March, 
1539.  Calvin,  at  the  beginning  of  his  reply,  pays  many  com- 
pliments to  Sadolet's  learning  and  eloquence  :  but  for  any 
force  of  argument  we  might  search  the  cardinal's  letter  in 
vain.  The  greater  part  consists  of  insinuations  respecting  the 
motives  of  the  Reformers.  He  charges  them  with  being  act- 
uated by  envy  in  their  attacks  upon  the  Romish  priesthood, 
because,  with  all  their  industry  and  learning,  they  had  not 
succeeded  in  obtaining  a  good  place  in  the  Church.  With 
more  than  questionable  taste  he  introduces  one  of  the  leaders 
of  the  Reformation  ra.aking  this  confession  before  the  throne 
of  God.  Grave  as  this  charge  is,  he  further  insinuates  that 
he  had  kept  back  much  heavier  ones  respecting  the  ambition, 
the  avarice,  the  love  of  popular  applause,  and  the  secret  fraud 
and  malice  of  the  Reformers.  That  the  latter  were  too  often 
amenable  to  some  of  these  charges  m.ust  be  granted ;  but  it  is 
evident  that  Sadolet,  feeling  the  weakness  of  his  cause,  strives 
to  divert  the  attention  of  his  readers  from  the  real  merits  of 
the  case,  and  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  his  arguments  by 
attacking  the  character  of  his  opponents.  He  concludes  his 
letter  with  the  stock  Roman  Catholic  argument,  which  was 
always  embarrassing  to  the  leaders  of  the  Reformation ; 
namely,  the  variety  of  sects  into  which  its  followers  were 
split,  while  truth  is,  and  can  be,  only  one.^ 

The  Genevese  council  acknowledged  the  cardinal's  letter 
shortly,  but  politely.^  Although  it  was  not  particularly  for- 
midable, nobody  at  Geneva  was  found  capable  of  answering  it ; 
and  Calvin  therefore  took  up  his  pen.  His  reply  is  considered 
a  good  specimen  of  his  Latin  style.  The  cardinal's  injudi- 
cious charges  afforded  an  excellent  opportunity  not  only  for  de- 
fense, but  retaliation.  In  answer  to  the  imputation  of  avarice 
and  ambition,  Calvin  maintains  that  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Romish  Church  he  could  easily  have  attained  the  summit  of 
his  wishes — literary  ease,  with  a  tolerably  honorable  station. 
He  defends  Farel  on  the  same  grounds,  but  with  somewhat 
more  warmth  than  he  does  himself  He  insists  very  strongly 
on  a  prominent  tenet  of  his  own  theological  system — that 
every  thing  must  be  subordinate  to  the  glory  of  God  ;  and 
rebukes  the  cardinal  for  making  a  man's  own  salvation  a 
higher  consideration  than  that  of  God's  honor. 

1  This  letter,  together  with  Calvin's  reply,  will  be  found  translated  in  the 
first  volume  of  the  Calvin  Society  publications.  ^  gpon,  ii.,  27. 


CAROLl  AGAIN.  95 

In  1540,  Caroli,  who  did  not  find  that  a  second  return  to 
the  Roman  CathoHc  Church  had  brought  him  the  preferment 
which  he  expected,  again  appeared  in  Switzerland.  He  took 
up  his  abode  at  Bonneville  on  the  lake  of  Bienne,  and  was 
seeking  to  obtain  another  ministry  in  the  Reformed  Church. 
As  he  showed  some  signs  of  humiliation  and  repentance,  Farel 
interceded  for  him  with  the  council  of  Berne,  who  were  highly 
indignant  at  his  former  clandestine  flight  in  order  to  avoid  the 
sentence  which  they  had  passed  upon  him.  But  notwithstand- 
ing all  Farel's  exertions  in  his  favor,  the  Bernese  council 
caused  him  to  be  arrested,  and  tried ;  and  upon  his  convic- 
tion, sentenced  him  to  ask  pardon  of  God,  and  of  all  the 
ministers  present,  as  well  as  of  themselves ;  and  condemned 
him  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  suit,  and  a  fine  of  sixty  sous.^ 

After  this,  Farel  advised  Caroli  to  retire  to  Basle,  and  live 
there  in  such  a  manner  as  might  enable  him  to  regain  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of  those  whom  he  had  offended.  In- 
stead of  doing  so,  however,  he  went  to  Montbelliard,  in  the 
hope  of  obtaining  an  appointment  from  Count  George  of 
Wurtemberg ;  but  Toussain  (Toussanus),  the  minister  there, 
saw  that  his  character  remained  unchanged,  and  dismissed 
him.  He  now  went  into  the  Valengin,  and  renewed  his  cor- 
respondence with  Farel ;  but  not  succeeding  in  his  application 
to  him,  repaired  to  Strasburgh,  to  see  what  he  could  do  with 
Calvin.  Calvin  consulted  Farel,  the  substance  of  whose  ad- 
vice was,  that  Caroli  should  be  put  in  a  way  of  getting  his 
living,  but  that  he  should  not  be  intrusted  with  a  church  till 
he  had  proved  the  sincerity  of  his  conversion.  Being  thus 
again  disappointed,  he  proceeded  to  Metz,  w^hence  he  wrote  a 
vaporing  and  reproachful  letter  to  Calvin  ;  but,  nevertheless, 
expressed  a  desire  to  be  reconciled  with  him  and  Farel  if  they 
would  procure  him  a  benefice.  Calvin's  answer,  dated  on  the 
10th  of  August,  1540,'^  is  written  with  temper  and  modera- 
tion. He  represents  to  Caroli  that  neither  he  nor  Farel  had 
any  churches  at  their  command  ;  and  that  even  if  they  had, 
they  should  not  be  justified  in  giving  him  one,  unless  they 
knew  that  he  agreed  with  them  in  doctrine.  Thus  frustrated 
in  his  plans,  Caroli  became  once  more  a  Roman  Catholic  ;  in 
which  character  we  shall  presently  see  him  again  upon  the 
scene. 

In  June,  1540,  we  find  Calvin  attending  a  diet  held  at 
Hagenau,  whither,  however,  he  seems  to  have  gone  rather  by 

'   Ruchat,  v.,  132. 

'  Ep.  20.     Calvin  subscribes  himself  "  ex  animo  tibi  amicus." 


96  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

way  of  relaxation  and  amusement,  than  for  business.  A  let- 
ter addressed  from  this  place  to  Monsieur  de  Taillis,  in  which 
he  describes  the  state  of  parties,  shows  that  he  fully  pene- 
trated the  designs  of  the  different  German  powers.^  At 
Hagenau  it  was  resolved  that  a  diet  should  be  summoned  to 
meet  at  Worms  in  the  following  November,  for  the  purpose 
of  settling  religious  differences.  At  the  instance  of  Sturm, 
Calvin  was  appointed  to  attend  this  meeting  as  a  delegate 
Irom  the  city  of  Strasburgh.^  It  was  thought  that  his  knowl- 
edge of  French  would  be  of  assistance  ;  but  in  any  view,  the 
appointing  him  to  such  an  office  is  a  strong  proof  of  the  esteem 
in  which  his  abilities  were  held  at  Strasburgh.  The  man- 
agers of  the  conference  on  the  part  of  the  Roman  Catholics 
were  Eck,  Gropper,  and  Pflug  ;  on  that  of  the  Protestants, 
Melancthon,  Bucer,  and  Pistorius.  Cardinal  Granvella  pre- 
sided. On  the  15th  of  January,  1541,  before  any  resolutions 
had  been  arrived  at,  Granvella  announced  to  the  meeting  the 
emperor's  desire  that  the  conference  should  be  broken  off,  to 
be  renewed  with  more  solemnity  at  the  diet  appointed  to  meet 
at  Ratisbon  in  the  ensuing  spring.'' 

At  Worms,  Calvin  became  acquainted  with  Caspar  Cruci- 
ger,  a  professor  of  Wittenberg,  and  one  of  the  most  learned 
men  of  that  learned  age.  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  are 
said  to  have  been  as  familiar  to  him  as  his  native  tongue  ;^ 
he  had  assisted  Luther  in  his  translation  of  the  Bible  ;  he  was 
well  skilled  in  medicine  and  botany,  and  a  first-rate  mathe- 
matician and  astronomer.  As  he  was  an  adept  in  short-hand, 
he  acted  as  secretary  to  the  conference,  and  during  its  progress 
often  prompted  Melancthon  in  his  answers  to  Eck.  In  a  pri- 
vate conversation  which  he  had  with  Calvin,  he  is  said  to 
have  approved  of  the  latter's  doctrine  respecting  the  eucharist. 
In  an  argument  on  the  same  subject  into  which  Calvin  entered 
at  Worms  with  the  dean  of  Passau,  Melancthon  was  so  struck 
with  his  learning  and  eloquence  that  he  dubbed  him  with  the 
title  of  "  the  Theologian."^ 

It  was  at  Worms  that  Calvin,  for  the  first  and  only  time 
in  his  life,  became  poetical.  In  order  to  greet  the  new  year 
in  the  city,  which  had  been  the  scene  of  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable passages  in  Luther's  life,  Calvin  produced  an  Epi- 
nicion,  or  song  of  triumph,  a  Latin  poem,  consisting  of  nearly 

1  See  P.  Henry,  i.,  260. 
3  Sturm,  Antipappus,  apud  Henry,  i.,  387. 
^  Sleidan,  De  Statu,  &c.,  lib.  xiii.,  p.  221. 
*  M.  Adamus,  Vita  Crucigeri,  p.  193. 
5  P.  Henry,  i.,  368. 


DIETS  OF  HAGENAU,  WORMS,  RATISBON.  97 

a  hundred  and  thirty  elegiac  lines.  The  subject  of  it  is  the 
expected  victory  of  Christ  over  the  Pope.  The  Redeemer  is 
described  as  accomplishing  this  without  the  use  of  arms,  and 
is  introduced  as  in  a  Roman  triumph ;  while  the  more  emi- 
nent of  the  Roman  Cathohc  champions,  as  Eck,  Cochlseus, 
and  others,  follow  his  chariot  wheels,  bound  and  abashed. 
The  following  lines  may  serve  by  way  of  specimen  : 

"  Annon  miritica.  est  regis  victoria  Christi 

Nostra  quod  intrepido  corda  vigore  fovet? 
Ergo  triumphali  redimitus  tempora  lauro 

Q,uadrijugi  emineat  conspicuus  solio  : 
Edomiti  currum  positoque  furore  sequantur 

Q,ui  cum  sacro  ejus  nomine  bella  gerunt. 
Eccias  hestemo  ruber  atque  inflatus  laccho 

Praebeat  hue  duris  terga  subacta  flagris  : 
Hue  caput  indomitum  subdat,  verum  ante  receptA 

Q.ua  semper  caruit  fronte,  Cochlgeus  iners,"  &-c. 

His  poetry  is  not  of  a  kind  to  make  us  regret  that  he  wrote 
no  more. 

Calvin  had  not  been  long  returned  to  Strasburgh  when  he 
again  left  that  city  to  attend  the  adjourned  diet  at  Ratisbon, 
the  proceedings  of  which  began  on  the  6th  of  April. ^  This 
assembly  seemed  to  open  under  the  most  favorable  auspices. 
The  Protestants  were  desirous  of  union  ;  it  was  the  emperor's 
policy  to  promote  concord,  in  order  that  he  might  be  enabled 
to  employ  the  whole  force  of  the  empire  against  Turkey  and 
France  ;  and  even  the  Pope,  Paul  III.,  was  disposed  to  make 
concessions,  as  appeared  from  his  choosing  Cardinal  Contarini 
as  his  legate.^  Contarini,  a  patrician  and  senator  of  Venice, 
like  Sadolet,  and  other  Roman  Catholic  prelates  of  moderate 
views,  had,  as  Ave  have  said,  belonged  to  the  society  called 
The  Oratory  of  Divine  Love,  which  was  for  making  many 
reforms  in  the  Church,  and  which,  on  the  important  doctrine 
of  justification,  had  approximated  very  closely  to  the  views  of 
Luther.  He  had  formed  one  of  the  council  which  Paul,  with 
the  view  of  mitigating  the  odium  he  had  incurred  by  making 
his  nephew  cardinal,  had  appointed,  in  1537,  to  examine 
without  favor  into  the  abuses  in  the  Popedom.  Their  report 
embraced  a  long  list  of  things  which  required  amendment, 
though  it  does  not  appear  that  their  suggestions  were  adopt- 
ed.^ By  the  German  and  Swiss  Reformers,  however,  this 
counter-reformation  was   regarded  with  suspicion.      Luther 

1  Sleidan,  p.  224. 

3  See  Ranke's  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  i.,  154  (Mrs.  Austin's  translation). 

3  The  report  will  be  found  in  Sleidan,  lib.  xii.,  p.  192,  et  seq,.^ 

E 


,J*A 


fT^/^  Of  THK 


98  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

and  Sturm  wrote  books  against  it ;  and  the  former  caused  a 
picture  to  be  painted,  in  which  the  Pope  was  represented,  sur- 
rounded by  his  cardinals,  with  foxes'  tails.  Thus,  with  the 
usual  fate  of  all  moderate  men,  he  only  succeeded  in  incurring 
the  suspicion  of  both  parties ;  for  the  Pope  and  his  college 
were  dissatisfied  with  his  not  showing  a  more  determined  front 
to  the  Lutherans  during  this  meeting.^ 

Calvin,  with  his  usual  distrust  of  all  such  negotiations,  had 
from  the  first  expressed  no  hopes  of  a  satisfactory  result.  Plis 
forebodings  were  founded  on  the  characters  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  managers,  who  were  the  same  as  those  appointed  at 
Worms.  In  a  letter  to  Farel,  from  Ratisbon,  he  thus  de- 
scribes them  :  "  Julius  Pflug  possesses  eloquence  and  knowl- 
edge of  the  world,  but  is  a  poor  theologian  ;  a  courtier,  more- 
over, and  ambitious,  though  in  other  respects  of  irreproachable 
life.  Deficient  in  the  requisite  knowledge  and  firmness,  and 
warped  sometimes  by  his  ambition,  you  may  infer  how  little 
is  to  be  expected  from  him.  Gropper  goes  somewhat  further  ; 
yet  he  too  belongs  to  that  class  of  men  who  would  make  a 
compromise  between  Christ  and  the  world.  Still  he  is  a  man 
whom  one  can  confer  with  to  some  purpose.  Eck  you  know. 
Nobody  doubts  but  this  Davus  will  spoil  all  by  his  officious 
meddhng.  I  should  not  despair  ;  but  I  can  not  help  thinking 
on  Worms.  Truly,  my  expectations  will  be  deceived  if  we 
arrive  at  any  result  worth  mentioning."^ 

Dr.  Eck,  who  was  a  native  of  Ingoldstadt,  was  for  a  long 
time  one  of  the  chief  props  of  the  Roman  Catholic  cause  in 
Germany.  He  was  regarded  by  the  Reformers  with  the 
greatest  disgust  and  aversion,  as  is  manifest  from  this  letter 
of  Calvin's,  as  well  as  from  his  verses  before  quoted.  Petrus 
Mosellanus,  in  a  letter  to  Pflug,  describing  the  disputation  at 
Leipsic  between  Luther,  Carlostadt  and  Eck,  in  June,  1519, 
gives  the  following  account  of  his  person  and  character  :  "  Eck 
is  tall  and  stout,  with  a  sonorous  and  truly  German  voice,  fit 
for  a  tragic  actor,  or  rather  for  a  public  crier  ;  yet  rough 
rather  than  articulate.  He  is  so  far  from  preserving  that 
suavity  of  the  Roman  countenance,  so  praised  by  Fabius  and 
Cicero,  that,  from  his  whole  appearance,  you  would  take  him 
for  a  butcher,  or  Carian  soldier,  rather  than  a  theologian.  As 
to  his  intellect,  he  hath  a  wonderful  memory,  which,  if  it  were 
supported  by  a  corresponding  understanding,  he  would  be  per- 
fect.    But  he  wants  quickness  of  apprehension  and  acuteness 

1  Sleidaa,  lib.  xiv.,  p.  224. 

2  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  i.,  364, 


DIET  OF  RATISBON.  99 

of  judgment,  without  which  all  his  other  endowments  are 
useless.  This  is  the  cause  why,  in  disputation,  he  heaps  up, 
without  choice  or  discrimination,  so  many  arguments,  so  many 
passages  from  Scripture,  and  other  authorities,  without  per- 
ceiving how  frigid  most  of  them  are,  how  irrelevant  to  the 
matter  in  hand — or  lastly,  how  obscure  and  sophistical.  His 
only  aim  is  to  obfuscate  his  auditors  by  a  copious  farrago, 
and  so  to  carry  off  a  show  of  victory.  To  this  must  be  added 
an  incredible  audacity,  concealed,  however,  with  wonderful 
slyness."^  Yet  Melancthon,  in  a  letter  to  (Ecolampadius,  re- 
specting the  same  disputation,  reports  more  favorably  of  Eck's 
powers,  and  states  that  his  great  and  various  intellectual  qual- 
ities had  excited  the  admiration  of  most  of  his  auditors.^ 
Pflug,  Avho  was  really  a  man  of  worth,  was  a  friend  of  Eras- 
mus, who  speaks  of  him  in  the  highest  terms,  and  is  loud  in 
praise  of  his  Latin  style.^  He  was  one  of  the  councilors  of 
George,  Duke  of  Saxony,  and  subsequently  Bishop  of  Naum- 
burg. 

Before  the  conference  began,  the  emperor  sent  for  the  man- 
agers, and  exhorted  them  to  lay  aside  all  private  feelings,  and 
to  have  regard  only  to  the  truth,  and  the  glory  of  God.  He 
then  handed  them  a  book,  which  he  wished  to  be  made  the 
basis  of  the  conference."*  Frederick,  the  Elector  Palatine,  and 
Cardinal  Granvella  were  appointed  presidents  of  the  assembly, 
and  there  was  to  be  a  witness  on  each  side.  Calvin  has  given 
an  account  of  the  proceedings  in  several  letters  addressed  to 
Farel  from  Ratisbon  and  Strasburgh,  the  first  of  which  con- 
tains an  elaborate  view  of  European  politics  at  that  juncture.'^ 
With  regard  to  the  business  of  the  meeting,  the  doctrines  of 
original  sin,  free-will,  and  justification,  were,  from  the  conces- 
sions made  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  got  over  with  such  ease 
as  excited  the  surprise  of  Calvin  himself  Contarini  had  been 
directed  by  the  Pope  to  ascertain,  first  of  all,  whether  there 
was  any  prospect  of  coming  to  an  agreement  with  the  Protest- 
ants respecting  the  primacy  of  the  Roman  see,  and  some  other 
articles  on  which  the  Reformers  dissented  most  widely  from 
the  Romish  Church.  Contarini,  however,  thought  it  prudent 
to  depart  from  these  instructions,  and  advised  the  managers, 
who  did  nothing  without  consulting  him,  to  put  the  question 
of  the  Pope's  supremacy  last  instead  of  first ;  thinking  it  bet- 

1  See  Jortin,  Erasmus,  ii.,  App.,  No.  xvii. 

2  Ibid,,  No.  xviii.  a  See  Ep.  1170. 
*  Sleidan,  lib.  xiii.,  p.  225.  M.  Adamus.  V.  Buceri,  p.  216. 
»  See  Epp.  28,  31,  32.  35. 


100  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ter  to  begin  with  those  points  in  which  he  and  his  friends 
approximated  to  the  Protestants.^  Thus  at  first  every  thing 
seemed  to  go  on  smoothly  enough,  and  Calvin  in  his  letter  to 
Farel  of  the  11  th  of  May,^  says :  "  When  you  shall  have  read 
the  draft  with  its  last  corrections,  which  you  will  find  inclosed, 
you  will  wonder,  I  am  sure,  that  our  adversaries  should  have 
conceded  so  much.  Our  managers  have  retained  the  sum  of 
the  true  doctrine,  so  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  paper  which 
may  not  be  found  in  our  books.  You  will  desire,  I  am  aware, 
a  clearer  explanation,  and  on  that  head  I  agree  with  you  ; 
but  if  you  consider  the  sort  of  men  we  have  to  deal  with,  you 
will  admit  that  much  has  been  done." 

The  question  as  to  what  constituted  the  Church  occasioned 
more  difficulty.  The  managers  were  agreed  as  to  its  definition, 
but  differed  about  its  power.  It  was  therefore  determined  to 
pass  over  this  point  for  the  present.  But  the  question  of  the 
eucharist,  as  might  have  been  expected,  proved  insuperable. 
On  this  subject  the  managers  requested  the  opinions  of  their 
brother  ministers,  and  Calvin  was  desired  to  put  down  his 
sentiments  in  Latin.  He  strongly  condemned  the  doctrine  of 
the  local  Presence,  and  denounced  the  adoration  of  the  host  as 
intolerable.  His  decisive  opinion  seems  to  have  influenced  the 
rest.  Melancthon  drew  up  a  paper  in  conformity  with  it, 
which  Cardinal  Granvella  rejected  with  many  angry  expres- 
sions. Such  being  the  difference  of  opinion  respecting  the 
fundamental  point  of  that  sacrament,  little  hope  could  be  en- 
tertained of  coming  to  an  agreement  on  the  difficult  questions 
that  still  remained  of  private  masses,  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass, 
and  the  communication  of  the  cup. 

At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings,  Eck,  the  chief  manager 
on  the  Roman  Catholic  side,  was  suddenly  seized  with  illness. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  infuriated  by  an  argument  respecting 
the  eucharist  advanced  by  Melancthon,  which  he  could  not 
answer ;  and,  in  order  to  console  his  rage,  drank  so  much  at 
supper,  that  he  got  a  fever,  and  was  not  afterward  in  a  con- 
dition to  attend  the  conference.^  In  order  to  balance  this  loss. 
Cardinal  Granvella  directed  Pistorius  to  be  removed  from  the 
Protestant  side,  and  that  the  conference  should  proceed  among 
the  remaining  four,  but  without  witnesses.  Calvin  commu- 
nicates to  Farel  the  inteUigence  of  Eck's  partial  recovery  in 
the  following  terms  :  "  They  say  that  Eck  is  convalescent : 

1  Ranke's  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  i,  162.  2  Ep.  31. 

3  M.  Adamus,  V.  Mclanctkonis,  p.  340.  Calvin,  however,  calls  it  an 
apoplexy. 


DIET  OF  RATISBON.  101 

the  world  doth  not  yet  deserve  to  be  delivered  from  that 
beast."' 

Calvin,  seeing  that  there  was  little  hope  of  coming  to  an 
accommodation,  took  advantage  of  an  adjournment  of  the  diet 
to  leave  Ratisbon,  though  Bucer  and  Melancthon  weite  very 
loth  that  he  should  depart.  But  Capito  was  ill,  and  thus  the 
school  at  Strasburgh  was  neglected,  and  the  church  also  stood 
in  need  of  attention.  In  a  letter  to  Farel,  dated  from  Stras- 
burgh in  July,^  Calvin  gives  a  further  account  of  the  confer- 
ence. The  Marquis  of  Brandenburgh,  with  the  privity  of  the 
emperor,  sent  the  Prince  of  Anhalt  with  a  message  to  Luther, 
who,  it  was  thought,  would  be  more  favorable  than  the  man- 
agers to  the  Papist  views ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  he 
made  any  concessions.  The  Boman  Catholics,  on  their  part, 
made  the  following :  They  were  willing  to  abolish  the  traffic 
in  masses,  and  to  curtail  their  number,  so  that  there  should 
be  but  one  mass  a  day  in  each  church,  and  that  only  when  a 
congregation  was  assembled.  They  granted  free  participation 
of  the  cup  to  those  who  sought  it ;  but  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass  ihej  enveloped  in  a  sophistical  explanation.  They  in- 
sisted on  the  necessity  of  confession  and  absolution,  but  were 
content  that  there  should  be  no  scrupulous  enumeration  in  the 
former.  But  all  these  articles  were  rejected  by  the  Protest- 
ants ;  nor  could  they  come  to  any  agreement  respecting  the 
invocation  of  saints,  the  primacy  of  the  Pope,  and  the  authority 
of  the  Church.  The  emperor  dissolved  the  diet  on  the  28th 
of  July,  promising  to  use  his  influence  with  the  Pope  to  get  a 
council  appointed ;  and  that,  if  neither  a  general  nor  provincial 
one  could  be  obtained  within  eighteen  months,  he  would  then 
assemble  an  imperial  diet  for  the  purpose  of  settling  religious 
differences,  to  which  he  would  take  care  that  the  Pope  should 
send  a  legate.^ 

Thus  ended  the  celebrated  Diet  of  Ratisbon,  in  which  the 
Roman  Catholics  and  Reformers  came  more  nearly  to  an  ac- 
commodation than  at  any  period  before  or  since.  The  con- 
cessions, it  will  have  been  observed,  were  all  on  the  side  of 
the  former ;  but,  from  the  relative  situation  of  the  parties,  this 
was,  in  a  great  degree,  the  natural  course  of  things. 

While  Calvin  was  engaged  with  these  conferences,  the  Gene- 
vese  were  actively  negotiating  for  his  return  to  their  city.  On 
the  20th  of  October,  1540,  the  council,  in  a  resolution  couched 

'  "Eckius,  ut  aiunt,  convalescit:  nondum  meretur  mundus  ista  bestir 
liberari."— Ep.  32.     Eck  survived  about  two  years. 

a  Ep.  35.  3  Sleidan,  lib.  xiv.,  p.  230, 


102  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

in  the  most  flattering  terms,  ordered  that  he  should  he  invited 
back  ;^  and  their  message  was  delivered  to  Calvin  just  as  he 
was  on  the  point  of  setting  out  for  Worms.  In  order  to  un- 
derstand this  change  of  feeling,  we  must  revert  for  a  moment 
to  the^tate  of  parties  at  Geneva  after  the  banishment  of  the 
ministers. 

The  faction,  which  had  succeeded  in  expelling  Calvin  and 
his  colleagues  at  first  enjoyed  a  complete  triumph.  Farel,  in 
particular,  was  the  object  of  their  railleries.  They  carried 
through  the  streets  a  frying-pan  full  of  candle-snuffs,  which 
in  the  patois  of  the  place  were  called  farets,  in  order  to  inti- 
mate that  they  had  made  a  fricassee  of  Farel. '^  This  faction, 
at  the  head  of  which  was  Jean  Philippe,  the  captain-general, 
together  with  two  of  the  syndics  of  the  year  1538,  was  in  the 
interest  of  Berne,  and  its  adherents  designated  themselves  by 
the  name  of  the  Artichokes,  which  plant  they  took  for  their 
device.  All  who,  from  whatever  cause,  were  dissatisfied  with 
the  state  of  religion  at  Geneva,  naturally  joined  this  party, 
and  thus  it  counted  in  its  ranks  both  Anabaptists  and  Roman 
Catholics. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  party  of  Farel  and  Calvin  was  kept 
in  subjection.  The  city  was  governed  according  to  the  views 
of  Berne,  and  all,  whether  Papists  or  ultra-evangelicals,  who 
refused  to  conform  to  the  decrees  of  the  synod  of  Lausanne, 
were  banished.  With  the  majority,  however,  the  adoption 
of  the  Bernese  rites  was  but  a  pretense  to  get  rid  of  the  ob- 
noxious discipline.  The  old  licentiousness  of  manners  again 
prevailed  ;  dancing,  gaming,  drunkenness,  and  other  still  worse 
disorders  flourished ;  and  adulterers  were  once  more  dismissed 
with  the  punishment  of  only  three  days'  imprisonment  on 
bread  and  water.^  The  new  ministers,  besides  the  inefiiciency 
of  their  characters,  were  not  numerous  enough  to  superintend 
the  charge  committed  to  them.  At  first  there  were  only  two, 
Henry  de  la  Mar,  and  James  Bernard  ;  and  at  Whitsuntide 
following  the  departure  of  Calvin  and  Farel,  when  it  was 
usual  to  celebrate  the  communion,  two  members  of  the  coun- 
cil were  obliged  to  assist  at  the  table  at  St.  Peter's  and  St. 
Gervais'.  Subsequently  two  other  ministers,  Anthony  Mar- 
court  and  Dr.  Morand,  both  foreigners,  were  appointed  to.  the 


i  "Pour  r augmentation  et  Tadvancement  de  la  parole  de  Dieu  a  ete  or- 
donne  d'  envoyer  querir  es  Strasbourg  maitre  I.  Calvinus,  lequel  est  bien 
savant,  pour  etre  notre  evangelique  en  cette  ville." — R6gistres,  20  Oct., 
1540.    Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographiques. 

3  Spon,  ii.,  26.  3  Ruchat,  v    96 


THE  NEW  PASTORS  DESPISED.  103 

ministry.  But  neither  these,  nor  their  colleagues,  were  men 
of  any  talent  or  authority,  and  were  consequently  despised  by 
the  populace.  Already,  before  the  expiration  of  1538,  we  find 
them  complaining  to  the  council  of  being  suspected  as  infidels, 
Papists,  and  corrupters  of  Scripture,  as  well  as  of  the  contempt 
and  ill-will  to  which  they  were  subjected,  and  begging  to  be 
dismissed  from  their  office.^  In  February,  1539,  they  are  re- 
corded as  representing  to  the  council  the  extreme  dissoluteness 
manifested  at  Geneva,  the  blasphemies,  balls,  masquerades, 
and  indecent  songs,  and  even  persons  going  naked  through 
the  town  to  the  sound  of  drums  and  fifes.^ 

This  state  of  things  lasted  the  whole  of  1539,  and  part  of 
the  following  year.  The  ministers  were  conscious  of  their  in- 
ability to  maintain  order,  and  felt  keenly  the  contempt  with 
which  they  were  treated.  Calvin,  however,  though  he  disliked 
and  despised  his  successors,  did  all  he  could  in  his  communica- 
tions with  the  Genevese  to  uphold  their  authority.  His  motive 
ibr  this  was  the  fear  that,  amid  these  disorders,  Geneva  might 
be  persuaded  to  return  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  ;  an  at- 
tempt to  effect  which  object  had,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
been  made  by  Cardinal  Sadolet.  There  seems,  however,  to 
have  been  but  little  ground  for  such  an  apprehension  ;  for 
during  Calvin's  exile,  it  being  doubtful  what  religion  some 
persons  professed,  the  council  came  to  a  resolution  that  all 
should  be  made  to  declare  themselves  ;  and  that  such  as  pro- 
fessed Roman  Catholicism  should  be  banished.  Among  those 
interrogated  was  Jean  Ballard,  one  of  their  own  body,  who 
only  escaped  the  penalty  by  a  timely  concession.^  Such, 
nevertheless,  being  Calvin's  apprehension,  he  thought  it  the 
best  policy  to  support  the  new  ministers.  Being  consulted  by 
Saunier  whether  he  ought  to  accept  of  the  sacrament  at  their 
hands,  Calvin,  by  the  advice  of  Capito,  with  which  his  own 
sentiments  agreed,  told  his  correspondent  that  he  should  do 
so,  without  inquiring  too  minutely  whether  they  had  lawfully 
supplanted  the  old  pastors ;  but  at  the  same  time  dissuaded 
him  from  accepting  the  ministerial  office  with  such  colleagues."* 
Saunier,  however,  does  not  appear  to  have  obeyed  his  injunc- 
tions; for  at  Christmas,  1538,  both  he  and  Mathurin  Cordier, 
together  with  some  others,  were  ordered  to  leave  the  city,  be- 
cause they  would  not  receive  the  sacrament  with  unleavened 
bread.  In  his  letter  addressed  to  the  church  of  Geneva  on 
the  25th  of  June,  1539,  Calvin  admonishes  his  former  flock 

I  Ruchat,  v.,  App.  5.  2  md,  p.  112. 

^  Spon,  ii„  32,  note.  *  Calvin  to  Farel,  Ep.  11. 


104  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

of  the  dangers  of  schism,  and  insists  strongly  on  the  reverence 
due  to  their  ministers  de  facto;  magnifying  the  priestly  char- 
acter, and  asserting  that  the  ministers  of  the  Word  should  be 
regarded  as  the  messengers  of  God.  ^  Yet  in  a  joint  letter^  from 
him  and  Farel  to  Bullinger,  we  find  the  following  account  of 
their  successors  :  "Of  the  two  who  have  invaded  our  places, 
one  (Bernard)  was  guardian  of  the  Franciscan  convent  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Reformation,  and  was  always  hostile  to  it 
till  he  beheld  Christ  in  a  handsome  wife,  whom  since  his 
marriage  he  hath  corrupted  in  all  possible  ways.  During  his 
monkhood  he  lived  most  impurely  and  wickedly,  without 
troubling  himself  to  put  on  even  the  appearance  of  the  super- 
stition which  he  professed." — "  Since  his  conversion  he  has 
behaved  in  a  manner  which  indubitably  shows  that  there  is 
no  fear  of  God,  nor  a  grain  of  religion  in  his  heart.  His  col- 
league (H.  de  la  Mar),  though  very  sly  in  concealing  his  vices, 
is  yet  so  notoriously  vicious  that  he  can  impose  only  upon 
strangers.  Both  are  very  ignorant,  and  quite  unfit,  not  only 
to  teach,  but  even  to  prate  ;  and  yet  both  are  proud  to  a  de- 
gree of  insolence.  They  now  say  that  a  third  has  been  added, 
who  was  lately  charged  with,  and  all  but  convicted  of,  forni- 
cation, had  not  the  assistance  of  a  few  friends  rescued  him 
from  judgment.  Nor  do  they  administer  their  office  more 
dexterously  than  they  have  usurped  it.  They  thrust  them- 
selves into  it  partly  without  consulting,  and  partly  against  the 
express  protests  of  their  brethren  of  the  province,  though  they 
carry  themselves  rather  as  mercenaries  than  as  servants  of 
Christ.  Truly  nothing  grieves  us  more  than  that  the  ministry 
should  be  prostituted  and  disgraced  as  it  is  by  their  levity, 
ignorance,  and  stupidity.  Not  a  day  passes  in  which  some 
error  is  not  observed  in  their  conduct  by  men,  women,  and 
even  children." 

These  men,  however,  such  as  they  are  here  painted,  seem 
to  have  done  what  they  could  to  check  the  torrent  of  vice 
and  disorder.  In  April  and  July,  1540,  we  find  them  appear- 
ing before  the  council,  remonstrating  against  the  scandalous 
scenes  which  took  place  both  by  day  and  night,  representing 
their  inability  to  maintain  order,  and  demanding  their  dis- 
missal.^ The  council  contented  themselves  with  recommend- 
ing them  to  do  their  duty.  Shortly  afterward  Dr.  Morand, 
disgusted  at  his  position,  left  Geneva  secretly ;  and  within 
two  months  his  colleague,  Marcourt  followed  his  example 

1  See  Ep.  17.  2  Hemy,  i.,  Beil  ^ 

3  Rnchat,  v..  147. 


DISORDERS  AT  GENEVA.  105 

During  this  year  the  party  of  Farel  and  Calvin  had  been 
gradually  gaining  strength.  It  now  ventured  to  show  itself 
openly.  Frequent  conflicts  took  place  in  the  streets,  which 
resounded  with  the  names  of  Farel  and  Artichoke,  the  watch- 
words of  the  two  hostile  factions.  In  one  of  these  riots  Jean 
Philippe,  the  captain-general,  and  head  of  the  Artichokes, 
killed  a  man  with  a  partisan  ;  an  act  for  which,  in  spite  of 
remonstrances  from  Berne,  he  was  condemned  to  lose  his 
head.^  This  was  a  heavy  blow  to  the  anti-Calvinistic  party, 
which  other  circumstances  also  contributed  to  repress.  Claude 
Richardet,  one  of  the  syndics  of  the  year  1538,  who  had 
assisted  in  banishing  Calvin,  and  had  told  him  that  the  gates 
were  wide  enough,  had  been  convicted  of  sedition  ;  and  being 
pursued  by  the  officers  of  justice,  had  broken  his  neck  in 
attempting  to  escape  from  a  window.  Two  other  syndics  of 
the  same  year  had  been  obliged  to  fly  from  Geneva  to  avoid 
an  accusation  of  treason,  and  had  in  their  absence  been  tried 
and  condemned.^  These  occurrences  seemed  like  judgments 
upon  the  city.  The  council  itself,  as  well  as  the  majority  of 
the  citizens,  wearied  and  alarmed  by  the  constant  disturbances, 
began  to  desire  Calvin's  return.  The  interest  he  had  mani- 
fested for  them  by  his  letters  from  Strasburgh,  and  by  his 
answer  to  Sadolet,  was  not  without  its  effect.  Political  mo- 
tives, also,  had  some  weight.  The  Genevese  began  to  fear 
that  Berne  was  acquiring  too  much  influence  in  their  affairs ; 
and  the  execution  of  Jean  Philippe  had  excited  considerable 
animosity  between  the  two  cities.  In  this  state  of  things  the 
secession  of  the  two  ministers  excited  a  pressing  desire  for 
Calvin's  recall ;  and  in  October  the  message  was  sent,  to 
which  we  have  already  alluded.  Farel  does  not  appear  to 
have  received  any  invitation  till  it  was  known  that  Calvin 
hesitated,  or  at  least  delayed,  to  return.''  But  though  Farel 
was  at  that  time  obnoxious  to  a  large  party  at  Neufchatel, 
and  though  a  sentence  of  banishment  was  actually  suspended 
over  him,  yet,  upon  being  recalled  by  the  Genevese,  indigna- 
tion at  the  treatment  he  had  received  from  them,  as  well  as 
an  unwillingness  to  abandon  what  he  now  considered  the  post 
of  duty,  deterred  him  from  accepting  the  invitation. 

Calvin  communicated  the  letter  of  the  Genevese  council  to 


1  Spon,  ii.,  141.  2  Kirchhofer,  ii.,  18.     Henry,  i.,  385. 

3  In  a  letter  to  Farel,  announcing  the  invitation  he  had  received,  Calvin 
says  :  "  I  dare  hardly  weigh  their  design  in  recalling  me ;  for,  if  they  be 
sincere,  why  me  rather  than  him  whose  ministry  would  be  not  less  neces 
sary  to  restore  their  church,  than  it  was  at  first  to  found  it." — Ep.  23. 


106  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Bucer  and  his  other  friends  at  Strasburgh.  As  they  antici- 
pated that  much  advantage  would  result  from  his  attendance 
at  Worms,  they  were  of  opinion  that  he  should  not  give  up 
his  journey  thither.  Accordingly,  Bucer  wrote  back  a  letter 
to  Geneva,  which  was  also  signed  by  the  other  Strasburgh 
ministers,  in  which  he  pleaded  this  excuse,  and  advised  the 
Genevese  to  procure  the  services  of  Viret,  who  was  then  at 
Lausanne,  till  the  Diet  of  Worms  should  be  concluded.^ 
Calvin  also  wrote  a  letter  to  the  same  effect.'  While  at 
Worms,  Calvin  received  another  letter  of  the  most  pressing 
kind  from  the  magistrates  of  Geneva,  and  which  was  delivered 
to  him  by  the  hands  of  Ami  Perrin.  His  reply,  dated  from 
that  town  on  the  12th  of  November,  1540,  contains  many 
civil  expressions,  and  many  protestations  of  his  love  for  the 
church  of  Geneva.  But  he  pleads  his  engagements  at  the 
conference,  and  does  not  hold  out  any  positive  hope  of  his 
return  ever  afterward;  alleging  that  he  could  not  quit  his 
vocation  at  Strasburgh  without  the  consent  of  those  in 
authority  there. ^  In  the  spring  of  1541  the  entreaties  of  the 
Genevese  magistrates  were  renewed.  According  to  the  ad- 
vice of  the  Strasburgh  ministers  they  had  obtained  from  the 
Bernese  the  loan  of  Viret's  services,  but  only  for  six  months. 
When,  in  May,  1541,  this  time  was  nearly  expired,  they  ad- 
dressed a  circular  letter  to  the  governments  of  Berne,  Basle, 
and  Zurich,  to  request  their  influence  in  procuring  Calvin's 
return.'*  As  this  letter  is  not  only  characteristic  of  the  times, 
but  shows  the  important  place  which  Calvin  held  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Genevese  council,  some  extracts  from  it  are 
here  subjoined : — 

'*  Although,"  say  they,  "  we  have  been  troubled  with  many 
and  serious  disturbances  in  our  city  for  about  twenty  years 
past,  yet  we  have  experienced,  most  illustrious  princes,  in  all 
these  tumults,  seditions,  and  dangers,  no  such  wrath  of  God 
pressing  on  our  necks,  as  in  the  years  just  past ;  in  which  by 
the  art  and  machinations  of  factious  and  seditious  men,  our 
faithful  pastors  and  ministers,  by  whom  our  church  had  been 
founded,  built  up,  and  long  maintained,  to  the  great  comfort 
and  edification  of  all,  have  been  unjustly  driven  out  and  rejected 
with  great  ingratitude :  those  extraordinary  favors  and  bene- 
fits being  altogether  passed  over  and  forgotten,  which  we  have 

1  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  27.  2  gee  Ruchat,  vi.,  App.  6. 

3  This  letter  is  in  Ruchat,  v.,  App.  7,  and  P.  Henry,  i.,  Beil.  17. 
*  That  to  Zurich  is  printed  in  Henry  i.,  Beil.  15,  from  a  Gen.  MS. 


NEGOTIATIONS  FOR  CALVIN'S  RESTORATION.        107 

received  at  the  hand  of  God  through  their  ministry.  For  from 
the  hour  that  they  were  banished  we  have  had  nothing  hut 
troubles,  enmities,  strife,  contention,  disorders,  seditions,  fac- 
tions, and  homicides.  So  that  by  this  time  we  should  have 
been  completely  overwhelmed,  unless  God  in  his  mercy,  com- 
passionately beholding  us,  had  sent  our  brother  Viret,  who  was 
formerly  a  faithful  pastor  here,  to  gather  this  miserable  flock, 
which  was  so  dispersed  as  scarcely  to  have  any  longer  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  church.  We  acknowledge,  therefore,  that  this 
great  anger  of  God  hath  fallen  upon  us,  because  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  hath  been  thus  rejected  and  despised  in  his  servants 
and  ministers,  and  that  we  are  unworthy  ever  to  be  esteemed 
his  faithful  disciples,  or  ever  to  find  quiet  in  our  state,  unless 
we  endeavor  to  repair  these  offenses,  so  that  the  due  honor  of 
the  most  holy  evangelical  ministry  be  restored ;  and,  by  com- 
mon consent,  we  desire  nothing  more  ardently  than  that  our 
brethren  and  ministers  be  reinstated  in  their  former  place  in 
this  church,  to  which  they  were  called  by  God. 

"  Wherefore,  most  worshipful  masters,  we  beg  of  you,  in 
the  name  of  Christ,  and  in  so  far  as  ye  seek  the  welfare  and 
safety  of  the  churches,  that  for  our  sakes  ye  deign  to  beseech 
and  urge  the  most  illustrious  princes  of  Strasburgh,  that  in 
their  benevolence  they  not  only  restore  our  brother  Calvin  to 
us,  who  is  so  very  necessary  to  us,  and  who  is  so  anxiously 
sought  after  by  our  people ;  but  also  that  they  will  them- 
selves condescend  to  persuade  and  urge  him  to  undertake  this 
office,  and  to  come  hither  as  speedily  as  possible.  You  are 
not  ignorant  how  needful  learned  and  pious  men  are  in  this 
place,  such  as  we  know  Calvin  and  the  rest  of  our  former 
ministers  to  be ;  as  we  are,  as  it  were,  the  very  gate  of  Italy 
and  France,  and  a  place  from  which  either  wonderful  edifica- 
tion or  ruin  may  proceed.  And  as  many  resort  hither  daily 
from  those  as  well  as  other  neighboring  regions,  with  what 
solace  and  edification  will  they  return,  if  they  behold  our  city 
settled  in  a  decent  order  I  But  that  can  not  be  unless  we 
have  those  pastors  and  conductors  which  we  have  pointed 
out  as  needful  for  this  church  ;  as  we  experience  daily.  For 
since  our  brother  Viret  has  been  conceded  to  us  for  some 
months  by  our  dear  friends  and  allies,  their  excellencies  of 
Berne,  it  is  truly  wonderful  what  fruit  hath  proceeded  from 
his  evangelical  discourses,  and  in  what  peace  and  concord  our 
city  now  is,  by  means  of  the  great  comfort  and  edification 
received  from  the  Lord  through  him,  and  communicated  even 
to  strangers,"  &c. 


108  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

In  consequence  of  this  letter  the  pastors  of  the  church  of 
Zurich  wrote  to  Calvin,  persuading  him  to  return  to  his 
ministry  at  Geneva.  Calvin  replied  in  a  letter  from  Ratis- 
bon,  dated  the  31st  of  May,  1541.^  In  this  he  states  that 
he  shall  refer  the  matter  wholly  to  Bucer  and  the  other 
ministers  of  Strasburgh,  and  requests  that  the  church  of 
Zurich  will  likewise  send  one  of  their  ministers  to  consult  as 
to  what  was  best  to  be  done.  All  his  business  at  Strasburgh, 
he  says,  was  to  give  a  theological  lecture ;  and  that  his  services 
were  not  so  valuable  that  the  school  would  suffer  much  in- 
convenience by  his  departure.  "  One  thing  only,"  he  adds, 
**  causes  anxiety  to  Capito,  Bucer,  and  the  rest.  They  ex- 
pect little  edification  from  my  ministry  at  Geneva,  unless  the 
Bernese  join  me  boncijide,  and  stretch  out  a  helping  hand. 
Nor  do  I  dissemble  that  my  own  hope  is  placed  chiefly 
in  their  assistance.  First  of  all,  therefore,  it  was  thought 
proper  to  communicate  with  them,  in  order  to  induce  them  to 
do  this  ;  and  they  are  by  no  means  averse,  provided  it  shall 
appear  that  the  church  of  Geneva  can  be  restored  and  pre- 
served by  my  ministry." 

Beside  these  public  invitations,  Calvin  was  also  solicited  by 
private  individuals.  Among  these  we  find  James  Bernard, 
one  of  the  two  remaining  ministers  at  Geneva.  In  a  letter  to 
Calvin,  dated  the  6th  of  February,  1541,^  he  relates,  that 
preaching  one  day  at  Rippe,  and  seeing  the  people  affected 
even  to  tears,  he  admonished  them,  without  mentioning  Cal- 
vin's name  or  suspecting  that  he  would  be  their  choice,  that 
they  should  seek  by  humble  prayer  that  God  would  give  them 
a  minister.  That  on  the  next  day  there  was  a  meeting  of  the 
Two  Hundred,  and,  the  day  after  that,  of  the  general  assem- 
bly ;  and  that  in  both  these  meetings  Calvin's  return  to  his 
ministry  was  unanimously  desired,  as  being  a  learned  and  good 
man.  Bernard  adds  his  own  wishes  for  his  return,  and  says  : 
"  You  will  find  me  not  such  a  one  as  the  relation  of  certain 
persons — God  forgive  them — has  led  you  to  believe  ;  but  a 
pious,  sincere,  and  faithful  brother,  and  moreover  your  friend, 
or,  rather,  your  most  obsequious  and  devoted  servant  in  all 
your  wishes."  This  being  the  state  of  public  feeling  at  Gen- 
eva, the  act  of  banishment  of  the  three  ministers  was  revok-ed 
by  the  general  assembly  on  the  1st  of  May,  1541  ;  and,  to 
show  their  sincerity,  dancing  and  profane  songs  were  prohib- 
ited, and  people  even  talked  of  establishing  a  consistory.^ 

^  Printed  in  Henry,  i.,  Beil.  19.  2  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  24. 

3  Spon.,  ii.,  36. 


HE  RELUCTANTLY  RETURNS  TO  GENEVA.  109 

Yet  Calvin  still  delayed  his  return.  That  his  reluctance 
was  in  some  degree  real  is  probable.  We  can  not,  however, 
help  suspecting,  that  he  made  the  most  of  the  conjuncture, 
and  that  he  was  determined  that  the  Genevese  should  feel  and 
know  his  worth.  Soon  after  his  banishment  he  had  not  been 
disinclined  to  return,  nay,  had  even  negotiated  to  do  so,  when 
the  Genevese  were  unwilling  to  receive  him.  Now,  when 
they  opened  their  arms  to  him  of  their  own  accord,  it  was  his 
turn  to  coquet  and  raise  difficulties.  Several  of  his  letters 
during  this  period  expressed  a  dislike  almost  amounting  to 
horror  of  returning  to  Geneva.  In  reply  to  Farel's  request 
that  he  would  return,^  he  says  :  "  Who  will  not  pardon  me  if 
I  do  not  again  willingly  throw  myself  into  a  whirlpool  which 
I  have  found  so  fatal  ?  Nay,  who  would  not  blame  me  for 
too  much  facility  if  I  should  fling  myself  into  it  with  my  eyes 
open  1  Besides,  putting  my  own  danger  out  of  the  question, 
what  if  I  can  scarcely  trust  that  my  ministry  will  be  of  any 
use  to  them  1  Since  such  is  the  temper  of  the  majority  there, 
that  they  will  be  neither  tolerable  to  me,  nor  I  to  them. 
Moreover  I  shall  have  a  still  more  difficult  fight  with  my  col- 
leagues than  with  the  rest.  What  can  the  efforts  of  one  man 
do,  when  hampered  by  such  obstacles  on  all  sides  ?  And  to 
confess  the  truth,  though  things  should  prove  smooth  enough, 
yet,  by  want  of  use,  I  have  forgotten  the  art  of  governing  a 
multitude.''  Writing  to  Viret  from  an  inn  at  Ulm,  on  his 
road  to  Ratisbon,  on  the  1st  of  March,  1541,^  he  says  :  "  There 
is  no  place  under  heaven  which  I  more  fear  than  Geneva ; 
not  that  I  dislike  it,  but  because  I  see  so  many  difficulties  in 
my  way  there,  which  I  feel  myself  quite  unequal  to  cope  with. 
Whenever  I  recall  what  has  passed,  I  can  not  help  shuddering 
at  the  thought  of  being  compelled  to  renew  the  old  contests. 
If,  indeed,  I  had  to  do  wdth  the  church  alone,  I  should  be 
more  tranquil,  or,  at  least,  less  frightened ;  but  you  raust  ne- 
cessarily understand  more  than  I  express.  In  short,  as  I  per- 
ceive from  many  signs  that  the  man  who  can  hurt  me  most 
still  entertains  an  inexpiable  hatred  toward  me,  and  when  I 
consider  how  many  opportunities  he  has  of  injuring  me,  how 
many  bellows  are  always  blowing  the  flames  of  strife,  and  how 
many  occasions  of  contest  will  offer  themselves  which  I  can 
not  foresee,  I  am  paralyzed  with  fear." 

From  these  two  letters  we  can  not  but  infer  that  Calvin 
really  felt  some  alarm  at  the  prospect  of  returning  to  Geneva, 

1  Calvin  to  Favel.  Strasburgh,  October  21st,  1540,  Ep.  2a 
3  Ep.  25. 


110  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

In  the  latter  it  takes  a  definite  form,  and  points  to  some  indi 
vidual  whom  he  does  not  name  ;  probably  Vandel ;  though  in 
the  same  letter  he  still  expresses  his  willingness  to  go,  if  ab- 
solutely necessary,  in  spite  of  these  dangers.  His  answer  to 
the  council  of  Zurich,  already  referred  to,  runs  much  in  the 
same  strain.^  Farel  used  all  his  endeavors  to  persuade  Calvin 
to  return.  In  January,  1541,  he  wrote  to  all  the  Swiss  and 
other  Reformed  churches,  begging  them  to  apply  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  Strasburgh  for  Calvin's  release  from  his  engage- 
ments.^ He  also  wrote  several  letters  to  Calvin  himself,  per- 
suading him  to  accept  the  offer  of  the  Genevese,  the  last  of 
which  was  couched  in  such  forcible  terms  that  Calvin  com- 
pared it  to  the  thunders  of  Pericles.^  Bucer  also  added  his 
remonstrances,  threatening  him  with  God's  judgment  if  he  did 
not  accept  the  vocation  ;  and  placing  before  him  the  example 
of  Jonas,  who  refused  to  go  and  preach  to  the  Ninevites."* 
Thus  was  Calvin  for  the  second  time  forced,  as  it  were,  into 
the  acceptance  of  the  ministry  at  Geneva.  But  though  he 
returned  from  Ratisbon  to  Strasburgh  in  July,  he  did  not 
proceed  to  Geneva  till  the  beginning  of  September,  having  re- 
mained at  Strasburgh  in  order  to  preach  there  during  the  fair- 
time.^ 

^  Henry,  j.,  Beil.  19.  2  Kirchhofer,  ii.,  20. 

3  Ibid,  p.  21,  and  Feraeus  Farello  (Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  26). 
*  Spon,  ii.,  36. 
«  See  his  ktter  to  Farel  (MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  i.,  397). 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Calvin  visits  Neufchatel — His  Reception  at  Geneva — State  of  the  Church 
there — Farel  invited — Calvin's  Ecclesiastical  Polity — Church  and  State 
— The  Consistory — Service  of  the  Church — Presbyterianism — Calvin's 
Idea  of  the  Priesthood — Method  of  upholding  it — Practical  Discipline — His 
Scheme  not  perfected — Calvin's  Civil  Legislation — Rigor  of  his  Laws. 

It  was  not  without  regret  that  Strasburgh  saw  itself  de- 
prived of  Calvin's  services.  In  July,  1539,  when  he  had 
probably  given  up  all  thoughts  of  returning  to  Geneva,  he  had 
purchased  the  freedom  of  that  city,  and  enrolled  himself  in  the 
guild  of  tailors.^  Upon  his  departure  he  was  requested  to  re- 
tain his  right  of  citizenship,  as  well  as  the  revenues  of  a  preb- 
end to  which  he  had  been  presented.  The  former  of  these 
oflers  he  accepted  ;  the  latter  he  declined.' 

Calvin's  return  to  Geneva  was  a  sort  of  triumph.  On  his 
part  it  was  a  matter  of  favor  and  concession,  and  completely 
on  his  own  terms.  It  appears  from  the  Registers  that  a 
mounted  herald  was  sent  to  escort  him  from  Strasburgh. 
Three  horses  and  a  carriage  were  sent  to  bring  his  wife  and 
furniture,  and  he  was  also  furnished  with  money  and  other 
necessaries.^  While  on  his  journey,  however,  some  news  re- 
specting his  friend  Farel  induced  Calvin  to  leave  the  direct 
road,  and  proceed  to  Neufchatel.  It  has  been  already  inti- 
mated that  at  that  time  Farel  did  not  stand  well  with  his 
flock.  His  excessive  zeal  in  introducing  a  strict  system  of  dis- 
cipline had  proved  distasteful  to  many  ;  and  in  July  this  grow- 
ing feeling  of  dissatisfaction  had  been  brought  to  a  crisis  by 
his  attacking  from  the  pulpit  a  lady,  the  mother  of  several 
children,  who  for  some  reason  had  thought  proper  to  separate 
herself  from  her  husband.  Shocked  and  offended  at  this  at- 
tack the  lady  absented  herself  not  only  from  communion,  but 
even  from  the  ordinary  church  service  ;  and  though  Farel 
urged  the  government  to  interpose,  his  application  was  not 
successful.  Hereupon,  with  his  usual  intemperance,  he  made 
a  violent  sermon  against  the  council  and  general  assembly, 
which  much  increased  the  ill-will  against  him.  The  lady's 
friends  bestirred  themselves  to  get  him  condemned ;  and  a 
majority  of  the  general  assembly  voted  for  his  banishment, 
1  P.  Henry,  i.,  225.  =  Beza,  Vita  Calv.  3  P.  Henry,  ii.,  18. 


112  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN 

though  two  months  were  granted  him  to  leave  the  city.  In 
this  state  of  things  Calvin  arrived  at  Neufchatel,  to  use  his 
good  offices  for  his  friend.  From  this  place  he  addressed  a 
letter  to  the  syndics  and  council  of  Geneva,  and  then  hastened 
to  Berne,  to  plead  Farel's  cause  with  the  government  of  that 
city.  A  complete  reconciHation  between  Farel  and  his  flock 
was  not  effected,  however,  till  the  following  January.^ 

Calvin's  return  to  Geneva  was  thus  delayed  till  the  13th 
of  September.  On  the  very  same  day  he  appeared  before  the 
council  to  apologize  for  this  delay  ;  and  even  in  this  first  inter- 
view intimated  his  wish  that  the  affairs  of  the  church  should 
be  put  in  order. ^  He  was  received  with  every  mark  of  honor 
and  affection.  The  council  earnestly  entreated  him  to  remain 
with  them  forever ;  and  presented  him  with  a  new  suit  of 
broad-cloth,  which  was  in  those  days  a  usual  mark  of  their 
respect  and  good-will.^  A  house  had  been  provided  for  him, 
with  a  garden  attached,  situate,  as  it  would  appear,  in  the 
Rue  des  Chanoines,  and  thus  not  far  from  the  cloisters  of  St. 
Peter's,  where  the  consistory  afterward  held  its  sittings."*  His 
salary  was  fixed  at  fifty  dollars,  besides  twelve  strikes  of  corn 
and  two  casks  of  wine.  This  does  not  seem  very  considerable ; 
but  we  must  take  into  consideration  the  relative  value  of 
money ;  and  the  payment  in  kind  seems  to  argue  a  want  of 
means  on  the  part  of  the  city.  That  the  Genevese  council 
considered  it  a  very  liberal  allowance,  appears  from  the  terms 
in  which  they  speak  of  it  in  the  Registers  ;  where  it  is  men- 
tioned as  "  handsome  wages,"  given  to  him  on  account  of  his 
great  learning,  and  the  charges  he  was  at  by  reason  of  the 
visits  of  travelers.^  Calvin  himself,  among  whose  faults  the 
love  of  money  certainly  was  not  one,  seems  to  have  been  per- 
fectly satisfied  with  his  remuneration  ;  and  though  we  some- 
times find  him  receiving  presents  from  the  council  for  extra 
services,  yet  many  instances  occur  in  which  he  refused  them. 
The  pulpit  of  St.  Peter's  church  was  prepared  for  him.  It 
stood  upon  a  broad  and  low  stone  pillar,  so  that  the  whole 
congregation  might  hear  him  with  ease. 

1  Kirchhofer,  Leben  Farels,  ii.,  20.     Ruchat,  v.,  164. 

2  RSgistres,  13th  September,  1541,  apud  P.  Henry,  ii.,  23,  note. 

3  "  On  prie  tres  instamment  Calvin  de  rester  ici  pour  toujours  ;  et  on  lui 
donne  un  habit  de  drap." — Registres,  13th  September,  1541.  Grenus,  Frag- 
mens  Biographiques.  *  P.  Henry,  ii.,  19. 

*  "  Gage  considerable  donne  a  M.  Calvin,  a  cause  de  son  grand  savoir,  et 
de  ce  que  les  passans  lui  coutent  beaucoup." — Rigistres,  4  Oct.  Grenus, 
Fragmens  Biographiqves.  In  his  French  Life  (Geneve  1663,  p.  155),  Beza 
states  his  salary  at  600  florins  {i.e.  Genevese  florins  of  about  ^d),  or  equal 
to  300  livres  Tournois,  which  is  about  the  same  as  the  preceding  statement. 


HIS  RECEPTION  AT  GENEVA.  113 

The  following  was  the  ordinary  routine  of  his  indefatigable 
labors  after  his  return.  He  preached  every  day  during  each 
alternate  week  ;  thrice  a  week  he  gave  lectures  in  theology ; 
presided  in  the  consistory  every  Thursday  ;  and  every  Friday, 
at  the  meetings  for  scriptural  discussion  held  in  St.  Peter's 
church,  delivered  almost  a  complete  lecture.  When  it  was 
not  his  week  to  preach  he  had  his  books  brought  to  him  in 
bed,  at  five  or  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  dictated  to  an 
amanuensis.  When  it  was  his  turn  to  mount  the  pulpit,  he 
was  always  ready  at  the  appointed  hour ;  and  when  he  re- 
turned home,  either  went  to  bed  again,  or  threw  himself  upon 
it  in  his  clothes  to  pursue  his  literary  avocations.  Yet,  not- 
withstanding these  multifarious  pursuits,  he  found  time  to 
reply  to  the  numerous  letters  which  he  received  from  all 
parts,  on  subjects  connected  with  theology  and  church  gov- 
ernment.^ 

Though  Calvin,  on  his  return,  prudently  abstained  from 
addressing  the  council  on  the  subject  of  old  and  personal 
grievances,  as  he  had  once  intended  to  do,  he  made  them  a 
speech  on  the  state  of  morals  in  the  city ;  but  on  this  score 
he  found  little  reason  to  complain  of  the  zeal  of  the  govern- 
ment. When  the  recall  of  the  exiled  ministers  had  been  re- 
solved on,  the  council  had  again  pushed  their  regulations  on 
this  head  to  a  point  of  puritanical  precision.  The  Registers 
show  that  these  were  not  mere  idle  thunders.  On  the  1st  of 
November,  1540,  we  find  several  women  imprisoned  for  hav- 
ing danced.  On  the  18th  of  June,  1541,  it  is  recorded  that 
the  wife  of  Ami  Perrin,  the  very  member  of  the  council  who 
had  been  deputed  to  solicit  Calvin's  return,  was  punished  for 
the  like  cause ;  as  also  one  Coquet,  who  had  told  the  people 
assembled  to  shoot  at  the  papegay,  that  they  were  at  liberty  to 
dance.^  Calvin,  therefore,  in  addressing  Farel  soon  after  his 
return,  expresses  himself  tolerably  satisfied  on  this  head.  "  The 
people,"  he  writes,  "  are  pretty  obedient ;  at  least  the  sermons 
are  regularly  attended,  and  the  state  of  morals  sufficiently  de- 
cent ;  but  there  is  still  much  vice  in  their  hearts  ;  which,  un- 
less it  be  gradually  eradicated,  will,  I  fear,  burst  forth  into 
open  contagion."^  In  the  same  letter  he  complains  sadly  of 
the  want  of  efficient  coadjutors.  The  only  one  on  whom  he 
could  rely  was  Viret.  He  consequently  strained  every  nerve 
to  get  that  minister's  leave  of  absence  prolonged,  and  suc' 

1  Beza,  Vita  Calv.     Spon,  ii.,  37.    P.  Henry,  ii.,  177. 

2  See  P.  Henry,  ii.,  fs. 

3  Calvin  to  Farel,  Nov.  11th,  1541,  Ep.  39. 


114  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ceeded  in  retaining  him  at  Geneva  till  July  in  the  following 
year.  In  a  letter  to  Myconius,  dated  on  the  1 4th  of  March,^ 
Calvin  represents  his  labors  for  the  first  month  after  his  re- 
turn as  very  irksome.  Viret  had  done  a  little  ;  but  had  not 
attempted  to  establish  any  regular  form  of  discipline.  After 
thanking  Myconius  for  his  good  offices  with  the  Bernese,  to 
get  Viret's  term  of  absence  extended,  he  thus  describes  his 
other  coadjutors :  "  My  other  colleagues  are  rather  a  hin- 
derance  than  a  help  to  me  :  they  are  arrogant  and  ferocious, 
have  no  zeal,  and  very  little  learning.  The  worst  is,  that  I 
can  not  trust  them,  however  I  might  wish  it ;  for  they  dis- 
cover many  proofs  of  alienation,  but  scarce  a  symptom  of 
good  faith  and  sincerity.  Nevertheless,  I  bear  with  them,  or 
rather  caress  them,  with  the  greatest  gentleness  ;  from  doing 
which  not  even  their  bad  conduct  shall  deter  me.  If  stronger 
means  become  necessary,  I  will  take  care  that  the  Church 
shall  not  be  damaged  by  our  quarrels ;  for  I  have  a  perfect 
horror  of  those  schisms  which  necessarily  follow  disagreements 
among  ministers.  Had  I  chosen  to  do  so,  I  could  have  got- 
ten them  dismissed  when  I  returned,  which  even  now  is  in 
my  power.  But  I  shall  never  repent  the  moderation  I  have 
shown  toward  them,  since  nobody  will  be  able  justly  to  accuse 
me  of  too  much  vehemence.  I  mention  these  things  by  the 
way,  that  you  may  the  more  easily  see  in  what  a  miserable 
situation  I  shall  be,  if  deprived  of  Viret."  And  further  on 
he  adds  :  "  There  are  in  the  city,  as  I  have  said,  the  seeds  of 
intestine  discord  ;  but  my  patience  and  mildness  prevent  the 
Church  from  feeling  any  ill  effects  from  this  circumstance,  or 
the  people  from  becoming  acquainted  with  it.  Every  body 
knows  Viret's  kind  and  gentle  temper ;  and,  at  all  events,  in 
present  circumstances,  I  myself  am  not  a  whit  harsher.  Per- 
haps you  will  hardly  believe  this ;  yet  so  it  is.  Such  is  my 
desire  for  public  peace  and  concord,  that  I  put  a  restraint 
upon  myself,  for  which  my  very  adversaries  are  compelled  to 
give  me  credit.  A  portion  of  my  enemies  daily  become  my 
friends.  To  the  rest  I  make  advances  :  and  though  I  do  not 
always  succeed,  I  feel  that  I  make  some  progress.  I  could 
have  driven  out  my  opponents,  and  that,  too,  with  applause, 
and  have  attacked  successfully  all  who  had  injured  me  :  I 
abstained.  I  might  inveigh  against  them  daily  if  I  chose, 
not  only  with  impunity,  but  with  the  approbation  of  many  : 
I  forbear.     Nay,  I  scrupulously  avoid  the  least  appearance 

1  Ep.  54.     No  year  is  given  ;  but  it  must  have  been  1542,  as  Viret  is  men- 
tioned as  still  at  Geneva.    It  is  put  among  the  letters  of  1544. 


STATE  OF  THE  GBNEVESE  CHURCH.  115 

of  attacking  any  one,  much  more  the  whole  body.  May  the 
Lord  confirm  this  disposition." 

The  triumphant  nature  of  Calvin's  return  had  undoubt- 
edly strengthened  his  hands  against  his  fellow-ministers  ;  and 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  he  really  possessed  the  power 
of  dismissing  them,  had  he  chosen  to  exert  it.  In  the  pre- 
ceding extracts  he  plumes  himself  much  on  this  forbearance  ; 
for  Avhich  he  evidently  thought  that  he  should  hardly  find 
credit  among  those  who  knew  him.  In  fact,  his  behavior  on 
this  occasion  was  the  effect  rather  of  his  good  sense  than  of 
his  natural  disposition.  That  it  cost  him  an  effort,  he  him- 
self acknowledges.  But  his  recent  experience,  and  perhaps, 
too,  the  example  of  Farel's  situation  at  Neufchatel,  had  taught 
him  a  lesson  of  moderation.  He  perceived  that  any  open  rup- 
ture with  his  brethen  would  be  a  scandal,  and  a  hinderance 
both  to  himself  and  to  the  Church  of  Geneva ;  and  therefore 
he  did  his  best,  though  against  the  grain,  to  conciliate  them. 
The  same  tone  of  new-born  moderation  pervades  his  corre- 
spondence with  Farel  at  this  juncture.  In  a  letter  to  him, 
dated  on  the  16th  December,  1541,^  he  says  :  "  Since  a  good 
cause  needs  a  good  advocate,  see  that  you  do  not  so  spare 
yourself  that  even  the  righteous  may  find  something  Avanting 
in  you.  I  do  not  exhort  you  to  maintain  a  pure  conscience  ; 
for  on  that  head  I  feel  no  misgivings.  All  I  ask  of  you  is  to 
accommodate  yourself  to  the  people  as  much  as  your  duty 
will  permit.  There  are,  you  know,  two  kinds  of  popularity  : 
in  one,  ambition  and  the  desire  of  pleasing  lead  us  to  seek 
men's  favor ;  in  the  other,  we  allure  them  to  docility  by  the 
exercise  of  moderation  and  equity.  Pardon  me  if  I  seem  too 
free  ;  but  on  this  head  I  perceive  that  you  do  not  satisfy  the 
good." 

Calvin  considered  it  for  the  interest  of  the  Church  that  a 
thorough  reconciliation  should  appear  to  have  been  effected 
between  the  Genevese  and  their  banished  ministers  ;  and  with 
that  view,  toward  the  close  of  December,  1541,  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  Farel,  inviting  him  to  Geneva.^  At  first  it  had  been 
arranged  that  when  Calvin  returned,  Farel  should  escort  him 
back ;  that,  as  they  had  been  banished  together,  so  the  unity 

1  Ep.  50.  In  the  Lausanne  edition  it  is  dated  1543  ;  but  the  contents  evi- 
dently show  that  this  is  a  mistake. 

2  "Now  that  I  hear  things  are  more  peaceable  in  your  parts,  it  is  for  the 
interest  of  our  common  ministry,  of  myself,  and  of  the  whole  Church,  that 
you  should  come  here  once." — Ep.  40.  In  this  letter  Calvin  announces  the 
death  of  his  friend  Capito  at  Strasburgh,  and  that  Bucer  was  sick  of  the 
plague. 


116  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

of  their  ministry  might  still  appear  to  be  preserved.  But  the 
breach  which  had  occurred  between  Farel  and  a  large  portion 
of  his  flock  had  prevented  him  from  leaving  Neufchatel  at 
that  juncture.  This  was  now  pretty  nearly  healed,  so  that 
he  might  absent  himself  for  a  while  without  danger  or  im- 
propriety on  that  score  :  but  there  seem  to  have  been  other 
scruples  brooding  in  Farel' s  mind  respecting  a  visit  to  Gen- 
eva. He  alleged  his  dissatisfaction  at  receiving  an  invitation 
only  from  the  council,  when  his  banishment  had  been  the  act 
of  the  Genevese  people.  In  fact,  there  seems  to  have  been 
some  lit  tie  jealousy  rankling  in  his  heart,  that  Calvin  had 
been  the  object  of  the  people's  choice,  and  that  but  little  had 
been  said  about  himself  In  reference  to  this  feeling,  Calvin 
says  in  the  letter  just  quoted  :  "  Whence  this  new  scruple  ? 
Was  not  your  name  proposed  to  the  people  when  it  decreed 
the  return  of  those  whom  it  had  banished  ?  Neither  I  nor 
any  one  else  was  named,  except  in  the  following  words  : 
'  Do  you  not  decree  that  Farel  and  his  colleagues  have  been 
wronged  1'  What  more  do  you  require  from  the  people  than 
that  they  should  acknowledge  their  own  guilt  by  approving 
your  innocence  ?  The  form  further  said  :  '  Do  you  decree 
that  Farel,  with  his  colleagues,'  &c.  Pardon  me,  brother, 
should  I  seem  to  speak  too  harshly  ;  but  your  scruples  appear 
to  me  to  proceed  from  moroseness  rather  than  sound  judg- 
ment. For  my  part,  I  well  know  the  integrity  of  your  mind  ; 
nor  have  I  forgotten  the  many  satisfactory  proofs  you  have 
given  how  little  you  regard  yourself:  but  take  care,  lest  you 
raise  suspicions  in  those  who  do  not  know  you  intimately ; 
nay,  lest  those  who  do  not  suspect  you  should,  nevertheless, 
avail  themselves  of  an  occasion  to  defame  you."  -Farel  yield- 
ed to  these  representations,  and  paid  a  visit  to  Geneva,  where 
he  was  much  struck  by  the  changes  which  Calvin  had  already 
succeeded  in  effecting.^  But  in  order  to  understand  these  it 
will  be  necessary  to  take  a  view  of  his  system  of  Church  gov- 
ernment and  discipline. 

From  the  moment  that  he  first  set  his  foot  in  Geneva,  Cal- 
vin could  not  but  have  been  aware  of  the  advantages  offered 
by  his  position.  An  ancient  polity  fallen  to  the  ground,  to- 
gether with  the  rehgion  which  had  been  its  prop  :  a  priest- 
hood retiring  discomfited  and  disgraced,  abandoning  at  once 
their  sacred  office,  and  their  secular  revenues  ;  a  people  in- 
flamed with  the  love  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  which  in 
their  case  were  identical,  and  willing  to  submit  themselves  to 

i  Kirclihofer,  ii.,  47. 


CALVIN'S  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY.  117 

those  who  ofiered  to  conduct  them  to  both  ;  a  new  system  of 
education,  of  civil  laws,  and  of  ecclesiastical  government  to 
be  built  upon  the  ruins  of  the  old  :  these  were  the  scattered 
elements  which  awaited  but  the  plastic  power  of  some  mas- 
ter-spirit to  be  combined  into  new  and  lasting  forms.  The 
young  republic,  though  secured  by  its  position  and  other  cir- 
cumstances from  the  assaults  of  external  enemies,  consisted 
of  a  small  population,  and  might  thus  be  easily  molded  to 
obey  one  consistent  system  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  polity. 
To  effect  this  was  Calvin's  chief  aim  from  the  moment  of  his 
return  to  Geneva.  His  next  object  was  to  render  that  city 
the  stronghold  of  Protestantism,  in  its  severest  form,  and  the 
center  from  which  it  might  be  propagated  throughout  Europe.^ 
From  this  period  the  history  of  his  life  consists  of  little  more 
than  his  struggles  to  accomplish  these  two  purposes. 

His  first  etibrts  were  directed  to  establish  his  scheme  of 
Church  discipline.  We  have  already  seen  that  this  was  not 
absent  from  his  thoughts  even  during  his  banishment  at  Stras- 
burgh  ;  and  that  he  had  devoted  a  chapter  of  the  new  edition 
of  his  "  Institutes,"  published  at  that  place,  to  the  develop- 
ment of  his  plans.  He  was  now  in  a  position  to  carry  his 
theories  into  practical  operation.  From  a  letter  to  Farel,^ 
dated  on  the  16th  of  September,  1541,  and  written  therefore 
only  three  days  after  his  return  to  Geneva,  we  find  that  he 
had  already  represented  to  the  council  the  necessity  for  some 
scheme  of  discipline,  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  and  the 
practice  of  the  ancient  church  ;  and  that  he  had  laid  some 
heads  before  them,  from  which  they  might  gather  his  general 
views.  The  subject  was,  however,  too  extensive  to  be  accu- 
rately detailed  before  that  assembly  ;  and  Calvin  had  there- 
fore requested  that  certain  persons  should  be  appointed  to 
confer  with  him  and  his  brother  ministers  on  the  subject. 
To  this  request  the  council  acceded,  and  nominated  six  per- 
sons for  that  purpose.  With  their  assistance,  Calvin  was  to 
draw  up  a  set  of  articles  respecting  church  polity,  which 
were  to  be  submitted  to  the  council,  and  afterward  to  the 
Two  Hundred  and  to  the  general  assembly ;  and  as  three 

I  How  well  aware  Calvin  was  of  the  advantages  offered  by  Geneva  fti 
this  respect,  appears  from  his  correspondence.  Thus,  in  a  letter  to  Bullin- 
ger,  in  May,  1549,  he  says  :  "  If  I  wished  to  consider  my  own  life  and  pri- 
vate interests,  I  should  immediately  depart  to  some  other  place.  But  when 
I  consider  the  importance  of  this  spot  to  the  propagation  of  Christ's  king- 
dom, I  am  with  reason  solicitous  about  its  preservation :  and  indeed  even 
your  advantage  and  tranquillity  turn  in  some  degree  upon  this."— MS. 
Gen.,  apnd  P.  Henrv,  i.,  164. 

a  Ep.  50. 


i:^  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

of  these  colleagues  were  known  to  favor  the  views  of  himself 
and  Viret,  Calvin  had  no  doubt  that  something  would  be 
obtained.^ 

As  Calvin's  scheme  of  church  government  forms  one  of 
the  most  prominent  traits  in  his  character  as  a  Reformer, 
and  as  much  of  the  sequel  of  this  narrative  would  be  but 
imperfectly  understood  without  some  acquaintance  with  it,  it 
will  be  proper  to  give  a  brief  account  of  it  here. 

His  theory  on  the  subject  is  laid  down  in  the  fourth  book 
c^'bia  "Institutes."  It  naturally  divides  itself  into  two  prin- 
cipal heads :  first,  as  to  what  constitutes  a  church  ;  and  sec- 
ond, as  to  the  relation  between  church  and  state.  The  main 
key  to  his  system  is  a  direct  opposition  to  Rome ;  a  root  and 
branch  reform,  which  was  to  bring  back  church  government 
to  the  model  of  the  apostolic  times. 

As  he  allowed  no  other  instrument  of  interpretation  be- 
tween God  and  man  than  the  Scriptures,  and  rejected  all  tra- 
ditions, and  other  human  appliances,  the  first  of  these  ques- 
tions was  easily  settled.  After  a  dissertation  on  the  visible 
church,  aimed  against  that  of  Rome,  he  thus  defines  a  church. 
*•  Wheresoever  tlie  word  of  God  is  sincerely  preached  and 
heard  and  the  sacraments  administered  according  to  the 
institution  of  Christ,  there,  no  doubt,  is  a  church  of  God ; 
sinc€'  his  promise  can  not  fail,  that,  when  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together  in  his  name,  he  is  in  the  midst  of  them."^ 
Thu  church,  therefore,  consisted  outwardly  of  the  whole  body 
oi  the  clergy  and  laity,  who  were  of  the  same  faith  in  funda- 
mental points ;  though,  according  to  Calvin's  more  esoteric 
doctrine,  the  true  church  consisted  of  the  elect,  who  were 
known  only  to  God. 

The  solution  of  the  other  question,  as  to  the  relations  of 
church  and  state,  was  more  complicated.  Here  the  Scrip- 
tures do  not  afford  so  clear  a  guide,  and  much  is  necessarily 
left  to  argument  and  inference. 

One  point,  however,  is  clearly  laid  down  in  Scripture :  the 
duty,  namely,  of  submission  to  established  government.  On 
this  subject  Calvin  carried  his  views  to  an  extreme  which 
may  surprise  those  who  are  but  little  acquainted  with  his 

'  '•'  Suivant  la  resolution  da  grand  et  petit  conseil  derechef  ordonne  que 
les  Srs.  Predicans,  avec  las  6  Deputes,  doivent  suivre  aux  ordonnances  sur 
r  ordre  de  1'  Eglise,  avec  un  mode  de  vivre  lequel  avant  toutes  choses  sera 
visite  par  le  petit  et  ensuite  par  les  CC  et  General  Conseil,  de  savoir  com- 
ment chacun  se  devra  conduire  selon  Dieu  et  justice." — RSgistres,  16  Sept. 
P.  Henry,  ii.,  23. 

2  ItosiiL,  iv.,  c.  i,  $  9, 


CHURCH  AND  STATE.  119 

political  principles,  and  who  form  their  notion  of  them  from 
the  conduct  of  his  followers  in  Scotland  during  the  time  of 
Knox,  and  in  England  at  the  beginning  of  the  civil  troubles. 
So  far  from  being  an  advocate  of  sedition,  Calvin  inculcated 
the  duty  of  unconditional  submission  to  the  civil  power. 
Christian  freedom  he  holds  to  be  perfectly  compatible  with 
political  servitude.^  In  considering  the  three  principal  kinds 
of  government,  namely,  monarchy,  aristocracy,  and  democracy, 
he  prefers  the  second ;  ^  an  opinion  which  he  practically  car- 
ried out  in  his  legislative  reforms  at  Geneva.  Nay,  consid- 
ered abstractedly,  he  gives  the  preference  to  monarchy ;  and 
postpones  it  to  aristocracy  only  from  the  difficulty  there  may 
be  of  always  finding  a  good  and  virtuous  king.  He  must, 
therefore,  have  had  a  despotic  monarchy  in  view.  In  another 
part  of  his  "Institutes"  he  maintains  the  divine  right  of 
kings,  and  the  duty  of  passive  obedience.'^  The  punishment 
of  evil  sovereigns,  he  says,  belongs  to  God  alone.  "  Let 
princes  hear  and  tremble.  In  the  mean  time  it  behoves  us  to 
take  the  greatest  possible  care  lest  we  despise  or  violate  the 
authority  of  the  magistrates,  which  is  so  full  of  venerable  maj- 
esty, and  which  God  hath  sanctioned  by  the  gavest  edicts, 
even  though  it  should  be  vested  in  the  most  unworthy,  and 
in  those  who  do  all  they  can  to  pollute  it  by  their  wickedness. 
Nor,  because  the  vengeance  of  the  Lord  is  the  correction  of 
unbridled  tyranny,  let  us  thence  hastily  conclude  it  to  be 
intrusted  to  ourselves,  to  whom  no  other  command  is  given 
than  to  obey  and  suffer."*  The  fanatical  contempt  of  civil 
government  displayed  by  the  Anabaptists,  which  had  tended 
to  throw  much  odium  and  suspicion  on  the  Reform ati  on r 
seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  causes  that  led  Calvin  to  adopt 
these  sentiments ;  but  they  also  favored  his  own  views  of 
church  discipline  and  polity. 

There  was,  however,  one  case  in  which  he  sanctioned  dis- 
obedience to  the  civil  magistrate ;  and  that  was  when  his 
commands  ran  contrary  to  those  of  God.^  Here,  it  is  evident 
that  a  large  loop-hole  was  opened  to  those  who  should  dispute 
how  the  precepts  of  God  were  to  be  interpreted.     Mere  diso- 

i  "For  why  is  it  that  the  same  Apostle  who  commands  us  to  stand  fast 
and  not  to  subject  ourselves  to  the  yoke  of  servitude  {Gal.,  v.,  1),  in  another 
place  forbids  servants  to  be  solicitous  about  their  condition  (1  Cor.,  vii.,  21), 
except  that  spiritual  liberty  may  very  well  consist  with  political  servi- 
tude?"— InstitutiojiR,  iv.,  c.  20,  §  1. 

'^  See  Institnhioris,  iv.,  c.  20,  $  8  In  this  jart  Calvin  seems  to  have 
Aristotle's  YioXiTF.ia  in  view.  ^  Ibid.,  6  25-29 

*  7^»?V7.,  §3!.  5  i^erf.,  §32. 


120  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

bedience,  indeed,  and  active  rebellion  are  two  different  things : 
but  though  Calvin  does  not  appear  to  have  lent  any  direct 
sanction  to  the  latter,  his  conduct  at  the  beginning  of  the 
religious  wars  in  France,  as  there  will  be  occasion  to  relate 
further  on,  shows  that,  where  religion  was  in  question,  hr 
gave  at  least  a  tacit  assent  to  active  resistance. 

Calvin  was  for  an  established  church  ;  that  is,  for  a  church 
supported  by  the  civil  power.  Thus  offenders  against  the 
laws  or  dactrine  of  the  church  were,  in  the  last  resort,  hand- 
ed over  to  the  secular  arm  for  punishment;  and  never  was 
there  a  church  that  permitted  less  deviation  from  its  es- 
tablished rules,  even  in  the  minutest  points,  than  that  of 
Calvin.  Dissent  was  punished,  according  to  the  gravity 
of  the  case,  with  fines,  imprisonment,  exile,  and  even  death. 
The  connection  between  church  and  state  was  strength- 
ened by  the  admission  of  laymen  to  a  share  of  ecclesiastical 
power. 

But  though  the  church,  as  a  civil  institution,  was  thus 
connected  with  the  state,  Calvin  was  very  careful  in  separa- 
ting and  distinguishing  their  respective  functions.  Each  was 
to  be  supreme  in  its  peculiar  province.  To  the  state  belongs 
the  superintendence  and  government  of  men's  temporal  affairs ; 
while  the  care  of  their  eternal  welfare  belongs  exclusively  to 
the  church.  The  government,  therefore,  was  not  to  interfere 
in  purely  religious  questions ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the 
church  to  assur^ie  any  of  the  functions  which  belong  to  the 
civil  power.  Controverted  points  of  faith  were  to  be  finally 
decided  by  synods.  Calvin  would  have  pushed  this  principle 
of  non-interference  to  the  point  of  making  the  church  inde- 
pendent on  the  government  for  its  revenues.  In  a  letter  to 
Viret,  dated  in  September,  1542,  after  describing  the  sale  of 
ecolesiastical  property  to  laymen,  which,  at  Geneva,  as  in 
other  places,  was  one  of  the  consequences  of  the  Reformation, 
he  subjoins  :  "  You  will  easily  guess  my  sentiments.  You 
perceive  that  it  is  an  alienation,  and  that  the  church  is  left 
naked,  in  order  that  the  magistrate  may  give  what  he  pleases, 
as  if  it  were  his  own  :  and  that  if  any  minister  is  wanting  in 
subservience,  he  may  even  take  away  the  portion  he  distrib- 
utes, or  threaten  to  do  so."  ^  Notwithstanding  Calvin's  oppo- 
sition to  all  the  usages  of  the  Romish  Church,  he  seems,  on  thi- 
point,  to  have  been  willing  to  comply  with  its  practice.     From 

1  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  ii.,  Beil.  i.  Satisfaciat  seems  to  be  a  mis- 
print. The  G-enevese  magistrates  sold  the  Church  property,  and  gave  the 
Reformed  ministers  an  annual  salary. 


# 


THE  CONSISTORY.  121 

a  letter  to  Farel,  on  tlie  same  subject/  we  learn  that  he  some- 
times delivered  his  sentiments  concerning  it,  both  before  the 
council,  and  in  the  pulpit ;  and  that  the  government  suspect- 
ed the  clergy  of  being  too  ambitious  in  endeavoring  to  reclaim 
the  property  of  the  church  :  a  suspicion  which  Calvin  desired 
to  avoid,  though  not  in  such  a  manner  as  to  connive  at  what 
he  calls  sacrilege. 

Having  thus  briefly  adverted  to  his  theory  of  a  church,  let 
us  proceed  to  inquire  how  he  carried  it  into  practice. 

The  government  of  the  church  was  vested  in  a  consistory, 
composed  of  six  ministers,  and  twelve  lay  elders.^  Two  of 
the  elders  Avere  chosen  from  the  members  of  the  little,  or  or- 
dinary council ;  and  the  remainder  out  of  the  council  of  Two 
Hundred.  They  were  indicated  by  the  ministers,  but  elected 
by  the  ordinary  council.  Before  they  took  their  seats,  their 
names  were  published,  in  order  that  they  might  be  denounced, 
if  known  to  be  unworthy.  The  general  assembly  had  a  veto 
upon  their  appointment ;  both  citizens  and  denizens  were 
eligible ;  and  the  election  was  annual ;  but  it  was  not  cus- 
tomary to  remove  those  who  had  discharged  the  office  wor- 
thily, unless  they  had  been  appointed  to  some  post  in  the 
state.  According  to  the  rules,  one  of  the  syndics  was  to  pre- 
side at  the  meetings  of  the  consistory ;  not,  however,  in  his 
civil  capacity,  but  merely  as  an  elder,  and  without  his  bdton 
of  office.  But  Calvin  seems  to  have  soon  usurped  the  presi- 
dency, and  to  have  retained  it  till  his  death.^  The  elders 
were  paid  two  sols  a  day  out  of  the  sum  accruing  from  the 
jfines  imposed  by  the  consistory,  which  were  put  into  a  box. 

The  consistory  assembled  every  Thursday.  Its  jurisdiction 
extended  to  matrimonial  causes,  and  the  following  offenders 
were  amenable  to  its  censures — namely,  blasphemers,  drunk- 
ards, fornicators,  brawlers  and  fighters,  dancers,  dancing-mas- 
ters, and  the  lilce  ;  as  well  as  those  who  spread  doctrines  at 
variance  with  the  teaching  of  the  church  of  Geneva,  and 

1  Epp.  et  Reap.,  Ep.  66,  Oct.  13th,  1545. 

2  The  following  sketch  is  taken  from  Calvin,  Epp.  167,  302,  and  377,  and 
from  Dr.  Henry's  account  of  the  Ordonnances  Ecclisiastiqiies,  Th.  ii.,  p. 
Ill,  et  seq. 

2  Thus  we  find  in  the  Rigistres,  29  Fevrier,  1580:  "Les  ministres  al- 
leguent,  pour  faire  supprimer  la  presidence  a  vie,  que  le  diable  a  fait 
breche  dans  1'  eglise  par  1'  etablissement  de  differens  grades  et  dignites 
entre  les.pasteurs,  et  qu'il  faut  prevenir  ses  astuces,  qui  commencent  par 
de  bien  petites  choses ;  que  Dieu  avait  suscite  <ji-devant  dans  cette  eglise 
feu  M.  Calvin,  personnage  d'  un  tres  grand  merite,  et  qu'il  1'  avait  combl6 
de  graces  toutes  particulieres,  de  sorte  que  par  la  veneration  qu'il  s'  etait 
attiree,  on  luy  voyoit  avec  plaisir  exercer  la  presidence,  sans  qu'il  y  cut 
pourtant  ete  appele  par  aucune  election."     See  P.  Henry,  i.,  A&^. 

F 


ir 


122  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

those  who  neglected  divine  service,  or  showed  an  open  con- 
tempt for  the  church  and  clergy.  Offenders,  in  minor  points, 
were  dismissed  with  an  admonition  ;  those  guilty  of  graver 
delinquencies  were  excommunicated,  for  a  time  at  least.  The 
same  minister  who  had  excluded  them  from  the  communion, 
might  readmit  them  on  their  expressing  a  proper  contrition. 
Nobody  was  cited  before  the  consistory  except  with  the  unan- 
imous consent  of  that  body,  nor  unless  he  had  neglected  pri- 
vate admonitions.  As  the  power  of  the  consistory  did  not 
extend  further  than  excommunication,  the  secular  arm  of  the 
council  was  resorted  to  in  the  case  of  hardened  offenders. 
Persons  who  obstinately  and  contumaciously  contemned  and 
defied  the  authority  and  censures  of  the  church,  were  handed 
over  to  the  council,  who  banished  them  for  a  year.  The 
church  thus  enforced  its  prerogatives  by  means  of  secular  pun- 
ishment, without  incurring  the  odium  of  actually  inflicting  it. 
They  who  had  returned  to  the  Roman  Catholic  communion 
for  the  sake  of  saving  their  lives,  were  compelled  to  beg  par- 
don on  their  knees,  before  the  consistory,  before  they  were  re- 
admitted into  the  church.  The  consistory  did  not  interfere 
with  the  course  of  civil  jurisdiction  :  and  that  the  people 
might  not  complain  of  undue  rigor,  not  only  were  the  minis- 
ters themselves  liable  to  the  same  punishments  as  laymen, 
but  if  they  committed  any  thing  deserving  of  excommunication, 
they  were  dismissed. 

The  service  of  the  church  was  performed  by  the  ministers, 
assisted  by  the  elders.  The  ministers  were  elected  by  the  col- 
lege. In  order  to  test  their  skill  in  interpretation  a  text  of 
Scripture  was  proposed  to  them ;  after  which  they  were  ex- 
amined in  the  principal  heads  of  doctrine.  They  were  then 
allowed  to  preach  a  sermon,  at  wjiich  the  ministers  were 
present,  as  well  as  two  members  of  the  council.  If  the  learn- 
ing of  the  candidate  was  approved,  the  ministers  presented 
him  to  the  council,  with  a  testimony  to  that  effect.  The 
council  had  the  power  of  rejecting  ;  but  no  instance  of  their 
exerting  it  appears  to  have  occurred,  during  Calvin's  life  at 
least.  When  the  council  had  sanctioned  the  appointment, 
the  name  of  the  new  minister  was  published,  in  order  that  if 
any  one  knew  aught  to  the  prejudice  of  his  character,  he 
might  state  it  within  eight  days.  When  elected,  the  minis- 
ter swore  to  observe  the  laws  established  in  church  and  state  ; 
but  not  in  such  a  manner  as  to  preclude  himself  from  the  free 
interpretation  of  Scripture. 

Besides  the  ministers  (or  preachers)  and  elders,  there  were 


SERVICE  OF  THE  CHURCH.  123 

likewise  doctors  (or  teachers)  and  deacons  attached  to  the 
church.  The  office  of  the  doctors  was  to  teach  the  ancient 
languages,  in  order  that  those  destined  for  the  church  might 
be  able  to  read  the  Scriptures  in  the  original.  The  deacons, 
who  were  chosen  in  the  same  manner  as  the  elders,  distribu- 
ted alms,  and  looked  after  the  sick  and  poor.  At  the  com- 
munion table,  the  preachers  or  ministers  administered  only  the 
bread  ;  the  cup  was  served  by  the  elders  and  deacons. 

Baptism  was  to  take  place  publicly  before  the  congregation. 
The  parents  were  required  to  be  present  with  the  sponsors ; 
and  no  person  who  was  not  of  the  same  persuasion  as  the 
Genevese  church,  nor  any  excommunicated  person,  was  per- 
mitted to  be  a  sponsor.  Nobody  was  admitted  to  the  Lord's 
Supper  before  he  had  made  profession  of  his  faith,  and  been 
examined  by  a  minister  as  to  his  knowledge  of  the  main  points 
of  religious  belief  Children  were  publicly  examined  four 
times  in  the  year.  Besides  this,  there  was  an  annual  visita- 
tion of  every  house  by  a  minister,  accompanied  by  an  elder. 
New  inhabitants  were  examined  as  to  their  faith  ;  but  in  the 
case  of  those  who  had  been  received  into  the  church,  the  in- 
quiry was  confined  to  their  mode  of  life  ;  whether  the  house- 
hold lived  in  peace  ;  whether  there  was  any  drunkenness  ; 
whether  any  quarrels  and  bickerings  with  neighbors  ;  whether 
the  family  attended  the  sermon  regularly.  In  order  to  facili- 
tate the  working  of  this  system,  the  city  was  divided  into 
three  parishes — those  of  St.  Peter's,  the  Magdalen,  and  St. 
Gervais.  St.  Peter's  church,  where  Calvin  officiated,  was 
attended  by  the  higher  classes.  St.  Gervais,  which  was  more 
frequented  by  the  inferior  orders,  was  under  the  ministry  of 
Viret  till  his  return  to  Lausanne  in  July,  1542,  when  Calvin 
got  two  new  ministers  elected  to  assist  him.^  Besides  this 
scheme  of  discipline,  Calvin  also  drew  up  and  published  in 
1541  his  liturgy,  or  form  of  prayers,  with  the  manner  of  ad- 
ministering the  sacraments,  celebrating  marriage,  and  visiting 
the  sick. 

Such  was  the  form  of  church  government  established  by 
Calvin,  who  may  be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian scheme  of  ecclesiastical  polity.  Zwingli  had,  indeed,  rec- 
ognized the  equality  of  rank  among  the  clergy,  had  instituted 
synods,  and  had  in  a  certain  degree  admitted  laymen  to  a 
share  in  the  government  of  the  church.  In  his  scheme,  how- 
ever, the  services  of  the  latter  were  almost  exclusively  em- 
ployed in  matrimonial  questions ;  nor  had  they  those,  so  to 
I  P.  Henry,  ii.,  27. 


124  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

term  them,  episcopal  functions  of  Calvin's  lay  elders,  by  which 
they  were  invested  with  the  supervision  of  all  the  members 
of  the  church,  the  ministers  themselves  included.  There  were 
no  traces  of  such  an  institution,  either  at  Strasburgh  or  Gen- 
eva, before  the  time  of  Calvin.  Farel  had  not  thought  of 
establishing  a  consistory  in  the  latter  city  ;  and  it  is  only  after 
Calvin's  arrival  there  that  we  find  any  traces  of  a  connection 
between  the  laity  and  clergy.  It  is  true  that  in  April,  1541, 
and  consequently  before  Calvin's  return  from  banishment,  the 
council  had,  at  the  instance  apparently  of  Viret,  established  a 
sort  of  consistory  for  matrimonial,  and  other,  not  strictly  civil, 
causes,  at  which  two  members  of  the  little,  and  two  of  the 
great  council,  were  to  be  present,  together  with  a  secretary.* 
But  as  the  Genevese  were  then  negotiating  for  Calvin's  re- 
turn, there  can  not  be  a  doubt  that  this  imperfect  approach  to 
his  scheme  was  adopted  in  compliance  with  the  views  which 
he  had  promulgated  some  time  previously  in  his  "  Institutes."  * 
The  system  here  described  would  seem  to  subject  the  church 
to  the  civil  power,  and  such  might  have  been  the  effect  of  it 
in  any  other  hands  but  those  of  Calvin.  He,  however,  knew 
how  to  wield  it  in  a  manner  that  rendered  him  an  almost  ab- 
solute dictator  at  Geneva.  The  same  cause  obviated  any 
tendency  to  anarchy  which  might  be  supposed  to  arise  from 
this  mixture  of  clergy  and  laymen.  Whatever  power  was 
wanting  to  the  church,  Calvin  supplied  by  the  extreme  respect 
which  he  so  jealously  exacted  for  the  priestly  character,  and 
especially  for  his  own.  He  did  not  scruple  to  place  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Reformation,  among  whom  he  himself  claimed  a 
place,  on  a  level  with  the  evangelists.  Thus  in  his  "  Insti- 
tutes"^ he  says  :  "  According  to  this  interpretation,  which  ap- 
pears to  me  agreeable  to  the  words  and  meaning  of  St.  Paul, 
these  three  offices  (viz.,  apostles,  prophets,  and  evangelists) 
were  not  instituted  in  the  church  in  perpetuity,  but  only  while 
churches  were  to  be  established  where  none  existed  before  ;  or, 
at  all  events,  where  they  were  to  be  transferred  from  Moses 
to  Christ.  Although  I  do  not  deny  that  God  hath  sometimes 
raised  up  apostles,  or,  at  least,  evangelists,  subsequently  ;  as 
in  our  own  time.  For  there  was  need  of  them  to  bring  back 
the  church  from  the  defection  of  Antichrist."     So  also  in  his 

1  "  Aiin  qu'il  est  besoin  de  faire  plusieurs  remontrances  a  plnsieurs  qui 
vivent  mal,  aussi  des  causes  des  marriages,  ordonne  qu'il  soit  erige  un  con- 
sistoive  lequel  se  devra  tenir  tous  les  Jeudis  et  qu'il  soit  present  deux  du 
petit  conseil  et  deux  du  grand,  et  un  secretaire." — Reghtres,  5  Avril,  1541, 
apud  P.  Henry,  ii.,  86. 

a  See  P.  Henry,  ii.,  86.  2  Ljb.  iv.,  c.  2,  $  4. 


PRESBYTERIANISM.  125 

book  against  Pighius,  he  says  :  "  Let  Pighius,  therefore,  cease 
to  wonder  whence  this  new  and  unheard  of  efficacy  of  our 
teaching  proceeds,  since  the  thing  itself  plainly  shows  that  it 
was  not  Luther  who  spoke  in  the  beginning,  but  God  who 
thundered  through  his  mouth  ;  nor  is  it  I  who  now  speak,  but 
God,  who  puts  forth  his  power  from  heaven."^  In  a  letter  to 
a  certain  congregation  he  states,  with  regard  to  one  M.  de 
Vau,  who,  he  complains,  had  defamed  him  :  "  He  says  that 
every  body  here  kisses  my  slipper.  I  believe  you  have  wit- 
nesses enough  of  my  pomp,  and  how  much  I  seek  that  homage 
should  be  paid  to  me.  I  am  well  assured  that  if  he  could  get 
my  place  he  would  show  a  very  different  sort  of  pride  ;  for 
since  he,  being  nothing,  is  so  puffed  up,  if  he  was  advanced  a 
step  he  would  certainly  burst.  But  he  shows  what  a  venom- 
ous beast  he  is,  by  the  sorrow  he  betrays  at  seeing  every  thing 
here  so  united  ;  since  he  calls  it  kissing  my  slipper  that  they 
do  not  rise  against  me  and  the  doctrine  that  I  teach,  so  as  to 
offend  God  in  my  person,  and,  as  it  were,  tread  him  under 
foot."' 

But  if  Calvin  was  not  exactly  the  Pope,  he  might,  at  least, 
be  considered  as  the  Bishop  of  Geneva.  In  a  conversation 
with  Untenbogaert,  Casaubon  affirmed  that  Beza  had  told 
him  that  Calvin,  though  he  had  rejected  episcopacy,  was  vir- 
tually Bishop  of  Geneva  ;  and  that  a  little  before  his  death 
he  had  offered  Beza  to  make  him  his  successor,  but  that  he 
had  declined.^  This  is  in  allusion  to  Calvin's  having  usurped 
the  perpetual  presidency  of  the  consistory,  as  already  related, 
and  in  which  he  wished  Beza  to  succeed  him. 

That  the  hand  of  God  was  indeed  in  the  Reformation  no 
pious  Protestant  will  deny  ;  and  it  must  also  be  conceded  that 
there  was  much  in  the  situation  of  the  first  Reformers  to  in- 
spire them  with  a  high  notion  of  their  calling.  Around  them 
all  the  people  lay  buried  in  the  profoundest  ignorance,  the 
grossest  superstition,  and  the  utmost  corruption  of  morals. 
From  this  state  they  were  suddenly  aroused  by  the  preachers 
of  the  Reformation ;  the  effect  of  whose  ministry  was  a  con- 
stant moral  miracle.  It  was  as  if  the  gospel  had  been  now 
pubhshed  for  the  first  time.  The  mentally  blind  began  to  see  ; 
the  morally  impotent  to  take  up  his  bed  and  walk.  Kings 
and  emperors  consulted  these  new  apostles ;  at  their  bidding, 
towns,  provinces,  whole  kingdoms,  flung  off  the  yoke  of  Rome ; 

^  Opera,  viii.,  118,  B.,  Amst.  ed. 

a  Gen.  MS.  apuA  P.  Henry,  ii.,  Beil.  ii. 


126  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

nations  negotiated  and  fought  respecting  their  tenets.  In  all 
this  there  was  abundance  to  flatter  and  gratify,  we  will  not 
say  their  spiritual  pride,  but  their  rehgious  enthusiasm.  But 
if  any  one  was  entitled  to  indulge  such  feelings  it  was  undoubt- 
edly Luther.  In  the  vast  effects  which  followed  his  labors  it 
was  natural  that  he  should  recognize  the  finger  of  God,  and 
feel  a  noble  and  enthusiastic  confidence  in  the  success  of  his 
cause.^  In  this  part  of  his  character  he  forms  a  striking  con- 
trast to  the  timid  and  irresolute  Melancthon,  whom  he  was 
frequently  obliged  to  cheer  on  and  encourage.  When,  after 
the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  the  latter  abandoned  himself  to  despair 
and  tears,  Luther  comforted  and  consoled  him  by  his  letters, 
bidding  him  lay  aside  all  anxious  thought  and  care,  since  their 
cause  was  not  man's  cause,  but  God's. ^  This  feehng  is  char- 
acteristically expressed  in  a  letter  to  Melancthon  when  he  was 
attending  the  Diet  of  Ratisbon  in  1541.  The  latter,  whose 
somewhat  hypochondriac  temper  was  tinged  with  superstition, 
had  been  depressed  by  an  accident  to  his  hand  from  the  upset- 
ting of  a  carriage,  which  he  considered  a  bad  omen.  "  I  have 
received,  my  dear  Philip,"  writes  Luther,  "  your  second  letter, 
and  though  I  am  concerned  at  the  accident  to  your  hand,  yet 
I  believe  neither  in  your  omens  nor  my  own.  Our  affairs  are 
not  conducted  by  chance,  but  by  a  settled  design ;  not  our  own 
felicitous  one,  forsooth,  but  that  of  God  alone.  The  word 
runs,  speech  grows  warm,  hope  sustains,  faith  conquers,  so  that 
we  are  quite  out  of  breath ;  and  if  we  were  not  flesh,  we 
might  sleep  and  be  idle,  remembering  that  word  of  Moses. 
*  The  Lord  fights  for  you  while  you  are  at  rest.'  "^  But  we 
here  find  Luther  representing  himself  as  the  mere  instrument 
and  tool  of  the  Almighty.  He  was  far  from  assuming  that 
personal  importance  which  Calvin  arrogated  to  himself; 
though,  as  the  chief  mover  of  the  Reformation,  he  was  more 
entitled  to  do  so.  The  respect  and  submission  exacted  by 
Calvin  far  exceeded  that  claimed  by  other  spiritual  guides ; 
and  was  any  thing  but  compatible  with  the  meekness  and 
humility  inculcated  by  the  gospel.  The  most  trifling  slights 
and  insults,  such  as  most  men  would  have  overlooked  with 
contempt,  Calvin  pursued  with  bitterness  and  acrimony.  The 
Registers  of  Geneva  abound  with  instances,  which  grew  more 
frequent  and  more  severe  as  his  power  became  more  consoli- 
dated. In  1551  we  find  Berthelier  excommunicated  by  the 
consistory  because  he  would  not  allow  that  he  had  done  wrong 

1  See  Sleidau,  De  Statu,  Sec,  lib.  vii.,  p.  119. 

2  Calvio,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  30. 


HIS  SEVERITIES.  127 

in  asserting  that  he  was  as  good  a  man  as  Calvin.'  Three 
men  Avho  had  laughed  during  a  sermon  of  his  were  imprisoned 
for  three  days  and  condemned  to  ask  pardon  of  the  consistory. 
Such  proceedings  are  very  numerous,  and  in  the  two  years 
1558  and  1559,  alone,  414  of  them  are  recorded  I  To  im- 
pugn Calvin's  doctrine,  or  the  proceedings  of  the  consistory, 
endangered  life.  For  such  an  offense  a  Ferrarese  lady,  named 
Copa,  was  condemned,  in  1559,  to  beg  pardon  of  God  and  the 
magistrates,  and  to  leave  the  city  in  twenty-four  hours,  on 
pain  of  being  beheaded.^  Calvin  carried  this  system  almost 
to  a  pitch  of  blasphemy  ;  so  that  he  sometimes  dared  to  justify 
the  harshest  and  most  unchristian-like  conduct  and  words  by 
the  example  of  the  apostles,  and  even  of  Christ  himself! 
Thus,  in  his  tract  against  Westphal,  he  says  :  "  If  I  am  to  be 
called  abusive  because  I  have  held  up  the  mirror  to  master 
Joachim,  who  is  too  much  blinded  by  his  vices,  in  order  that 
he  might  at  length  begin  to  be  ashamed  of  himself,  he  ought 
to  address  the  same  reproach  to  the  prophets,  the  apostles,  and 
even  to  Christ  himself,  who  have  not  scrupled  to  reproach 
with  bitterness  the  adversaries  of  the  true  doctrine.  We  are 
agreed,  on  both  sides,  that  abusive  words  and  jests  by  no 
means  become  Christians.  But  since  the  prophets  themselves 
do  not  altogether  abstain  from  using  scurrilities,  and  Christ 
in  taxing  deceivers  and  false  doctors  uses  sharp  terms,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  every  where  attacks  such  people,  crying  out  and 
sparing  nothing  :  it  is  a  foolish  and  inconsiderate  question  to 
ask  whether  we  are  at  liberty  to  reprehend  severely,  roughly, 
and  to  good  purpose,  those  who  expose  themselves  to  blame 
and  infamy."^  Even  a  modern  biographer  of  Calvin,  who  has 
embraced  his  cause  with  great  warmth,  can  not  help  pointing 
out  the  impropriety  of  his  using  the  term  bitterness,  with  ref- 
erence to  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  his  presumption  in  putting  him- 
self on  a  level  with  Christ  and  the  apostles.  "  Throughout," 
he  observes,  "  great  presumption  prevails  in  his  manner,  mixed 
with  a  supercilious  raillery  which  one  can  not  term  Christian, 
and  still  less  compare  with  the  holy  anger  of  our  Lord."* 

1  "Philibert  Berthelier  se  plaint  au  Conseil  de  ce  que  le  Consistoire  lui 
a  defenda  la  cene  pour  n'  avoir  pas  voulu  convenir  qu'il  avoit  fait  mal  de 
soutenir  qu'il  etoit  aussi  liomme  de  bien  que  Calvin," — Rigistres,  27  Mars, 
1551.     Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographiques. 

2  P.  Henry,  ii.,  217. 

3  duoted  by  P.  Henry,  i.,  460,  from  the  French  edition. 

*  "Aigrement  sollte  er  nicht  sagen,  denn  hierin  besteht  grade  der  Unter- 
gchied  der  Apostel  und  der  Reformatoren,  dass  der  heilige  Geist  in  seiner 
Reinheit  keine  saure  Scharfe  kannte,  Es  ist  hochst  anmassend  sich  mit 
den  Aposteln  auf  dieselbe  Linie  zu  stellen,  wenn  man,  w^ie  Calvin,  schma- 


128  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

The  influence  which  Calvin  acquired  at  Geneva  vi^as  doubt- 
less assisted  by  his  extensive  learning  and  great  intellectual 
powers,  which  in  most  cases  rendered  him  much  superior  to  the 
members  of  the  government.  Hence  he  extended  his  interfer- 
ence even  to  political  matters,  in  spite  of  the  apparent  sepa- 
ration between  church  and  state  which  formed  part  of  his  own 
theory.  Thus,  for  instance,  we  find  him  in  1558  directing 
the  Two  Hundred  in  their  choice  of  syndics ;  and  reading 
them  a  long  lecture  on  the  evils  which  had  resulted  from  their 
former  elections.^ 

In  order  that  the  discipline  estabhshed  by  Calvin  might  not 
be  infringed,  spies,  or  watchmen,  were  appointed  in  the  coun- 
try as  well  as  in  the  city,  whose  office  it  was  to  give  informa- 
tion of  any  breaches  ^  of  it,  and  who  were  paid  out  of  the  fines 
imposed.  It  is  easy  to  see  to  what  abuses  and  inconveniences 
such  a  system  must  be  liable.  The  members  of  the  consistory^ 
also,  made  their  regular  reports,  which  became  the  subject  of 
inquiry.  Every  unseemly  word,  even  though  spoken  in  the 
street,  was  reported.  No  respect  was  paid  to  persons.  Mem- 
bers of  the  oldest  and  most  distinguished  families  were  brought 
before  the  consistory,  women  as  well  as  men,  and  examined 
in  the  tenderest  points  of  conscience.  An  appeal  to  the  coun- 
cil was  seldom  attended  with  any  other  result  than  an  order 
to  beg  pardon  of  the  consistory.  The  ofiender  was  then  com- 
pelled to  kneel  down  and  receive  a  reprimand  ;  and,  in  aggra- 
vated cases,  he  was  excluded  from  the  commumon.  The 
consistory  frequently  exhibited  scenes  of  violence  and  abuse. 
Calvin  would  fly  into  a  passion,  and  call  the  delinquents  hyp- 
ocrites and  other  hard  names  ;  which  were  frequently  retorted 
on  himself.  Upon  such  occasions  he  would  demand  that  the 
affair  should  be  referred  to  the  council.^  The  latter  body,  on 
the  suggestion  of  the  consistory,  frequently  imprisoned  persons 
on  bare  suspicion.  The  supervision  of  the  consistory  extended 
to  the  most  minute  things,  even  to  the  directing  people  as  to 
what  books  they  should  read.     Thus  we  find  an  entry  in  the 

hend  und  ironisch  hohnend  spriclit.  Im  Ganzen  lierrscht  eine  grosse,  mit 
ubermiithigem  Schei'z  verbundene  Anmassung-  in  seiner  Manier,  die  man 
wahrlich  nicht  christlich  nennen,  noch  weniger  sie  nait  der  heiligen  Entriist- 
ung  des  Herrn  vergleichen  kann." — Ibid,  p.  461,  note. 

1  "M.  Calvin  exhorts  les  CC  a  elire  pour  Syndics  des  gens  de  bien,  et  a 
se  souvenir  en  quel  danger  la  Republique  avoit  ete  les  annees  dernieres 
pour  avoir  ete  gouvernee  par  de  mauvais  magistrats,"  iScc,  &c. — Rigistres, 
4  Fevrier,  1558.     Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographtqiies. 

2  «'  On  elit  dans  les  villages  des  gens  charges  d'obliger  le  peuple  a  aller 
au  sermon." — Registres,  25  Avril.  1543.    Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographiques. 

3  P.  Henry,  ii.,  215,  216. 


HIS  PRACTICAL  DISCIPLINE.  129 

Registers,  forbidding  the  perusal  of  "  Amadis  de  Gaul,''  and 
ordering  the  book  to  be  destroyed/  They  who  did  not  come 
to  church  on  Sunday  were  fined  three  sols.  They  who  came 
after  the  sermon  was  begun  were  censured  the  first  time  and 
fined  the  second.  They  who  swore  by  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  were  condemned  to  kiss  the  earth,  to  stand  an  hour  in 
the  pillory,  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  three  sols.  He  who  denied 
God  or  his  baptism,  was  imprisoned  nine  days  and  whipped. 
Drunkenness  was  punished  by  consistorial  censures  and  a  fine 
of  three  sols.  The  same  punishment  was  inflicted  on  him 
who  had  invited  another  to  the  tavern.^ 

The  chief  opposition  to  the  establishment  of  Calvin's  dis- 
cipline sprang  from  the  higher  classes,  and  from  his  brother 
ministers.  The  latter,  though  they  outwardly  pretended  to 
approve  of  it,  secretly  used  a]l  their  endeavors  to  prevent  its 
establishment,  by  representing  to  the  council  that  it  would 
considerably  abridge  their  power,  and  thus  become  a  means 
and  help  to  sedition.^  On  the  other  hand,  the  mass  of  the 
people,  though  fond  of  dancing  and  other  dissipations,  were 
willing  to  forego  them,  and  to  comply  with  the  strict  observ- 
ances enjoined  by  the  new  scheme,  in  the  hope  that  they 
would  prove  a  means  of  humbling  their  superiors.  The  ordi- 
nances were  finally  passed  on  the  20th  of  November,  1541.'' 
It  appears  that  during  their  progress  through  the  council,  Cal- 
vin and  the  ministers  were  desirous  of  knowing  what  altera- 
tions had  been  made  in  them ;  but  that  body  would  not  sub- 
mit to  this  sort  of  interference,  and  ordered  them  to  be 
forwarded  at  once  to  the  council  of  Two  Hundred.^ 

Calvin,  in  a  letter  to  Myconius,  .dated  on  the  15th  of 
March,  1542,  represents  the  measure  which  he  had  succeed- 
ed in  carrying  as  still  very  imperfect  and  incomplete,  and 
that  he  had  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  obtaining  even  this 
partial  adoption  of  his  views.®  The  council  seem  for  some 
time  to  have  contested  with  him  the  power  of  excommunica- 
tion.    In  an  entry  in  the  Registers,  in  March,  1543,  we  find 

1  "  Pourceque  plusieurs  lisent  Amadis  de  Gaul  combien  qu'il  n'y  ait  que 
choses  dissolues  et  mauvaises ;  aiTete  de  leur  faire  grandes  remontrances, 
at  que  le  dit  livre  soit  gate  et  rompu.*' — RSgistres,  13  Mars,  1559.  Grenus, 
Fragmens  Biographiques,  under  date. 

2  P.  Henry,  ii.,  114,  note. 

3  See  Ep.  54. 

*  "Les  ordonnances  ont  ete  passees  sans  contradiction." — Rigistres,  20 
Nov.,  1541. 

5  "  Ordonne  que  a  eux  n'appartient  de  les  revoir  et  que  Taflfaire  soit 
remise  aux  CC." — Rigistres,  9  Nov.,  1541.    P.  Henry,  ii.,  Beil.  5. 

6  Ep.  54.      * 


130  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

the  council  affirming  that  the  consistory  has  only  the  right 
of  admonishing,  and  that  the  power  of  excommunicating  is 
reserved  to  themselves  ;  and,  indeed,  it  was  not  till  after  Cal- 
vin's final  triumph  over  the  Libertine  party,  in  1555,  that 
the  consistory  obtained  the  undisputed  power  of  excommuni- 
cation.^ Other  parts  of  his  scheme  which  Calvin  failed  in 
carrying  out  were  the  institution  of  synods,  and  making  the 
clergy  independent  of  the  state  for  their  revenues.  From  the 
want  of  synods,  the  last  determination  in  matters  of  faith  lay 
with  the  council,  a  thing  altogether  contrary  to  Calvin's  prin- 
ciples. He  also  disapproved  of  the  selection  of  elders  being 
confined  to  members  of  the  different  councils,  instead  of  being 
extended  to  the  congregation  generally.  The.  excess  in  the 
number  of  lay  elders  over  the  clergy  in  the  consistory  seems, 
however,  to  have  been  his  own  plan.^  In  France  his  scheme 
developed  itself  in  opposition  to.  and  therefore  quite  independ- 
ently of  the  state  ;  and,  consequently,  in  that  country  he  was 
enabled  to  carry  it  out  without  mutilation. 

Not  only  was  Calvin  aware  that  the  ecclesiastical  polity 
he  had  established  at  Geneva  was  incomplete,  he  seems  also 
to  have  felt  that  his  scheme  would  not  have  suited  large 
kingdoms.  Thus,  in  a  letter  to  the  King  of  Poland  (9  th  of 
December,  1544),  he  recognizes  the  jurisdiction  of  an  arch- 
bishop and  bishops,  and  pronounces  it  to  be  in  accordance 
with  the  practice  of  the  ancient  church.^  And  in  like  man- 
ner, in  his  letter  to  the  Protector  Somerset,  he  finds  no  fault 
with  the  episcopal  form  of  government  established  in  England. 
Indeed,  his  own  assumption  of  a  quasi  episcopacy  shows  that 
he  held  it  necessary  that  the  supreme  administration  should 
be  lodged  in  the  hands  of  one  person. 

Scarcely  had  Calvin  finished  his  l-abors  for  the  establish- 
ment of  his  discipline  than  we  find  him  employed  by  the 
council  to  assist  in  drawing  up  a  code  of  civil  law."*     The 

1  "  Le  Consistoire  n'a  que  le  droit  d'admonester,.et  celui  d'excommunier 
est  reserve  au  Conseil." — R^gistres,  19  Mars,  1543.  Grenus,  Fragmens 
Biographiques,  under  date. 

2  P.  Henry,  ii.,  118. 

3  "  The  ancient  church  erected  Patriarchates,  and  even  assigned  to  sin- 
gle provinces  certain  primacies,  that  bishops  might  be  more  united  by  this 
bond  of  concord.  And  in  like  manner,  if  one  archbishop  should  now  preside 
over  the  kingdom  of  Poland,  not  indeed  to  domineer  over  the  rest,  nor  to 
aiTOgate  to  himself  their  authority,  but  for  the  sake  of  order  to  preside  over 
the  synods,  and  to  maintain  a  righteous  union  among  his  colleagues  and 
brethren :  there  might  then  be  provincial  or  civic  bishops,  whose  duty  it 
should  particularly  be  to  preserve  order.  For  nature  herself  dictates  that 
in  every  society  one  should  be  chosen  to  direct  affairs." — Ep.  190. 

*  "II  (Calvin)  fut  charge  le  21  Nov.  (1541)  avec  trois  conseillers  de  com- 
piler des  edits  pour  gouverner  le  peuple."     "  M'"^-  Claude  Roset,  Calvin,  et 


CALVIN'S  CIVIL  LEGISLATION.  131 

knowledge  that  he  had  at  one  time  been  designed  for  the  ^ 
legal  profession  probably  led  to  his  being  charged  with  this 
commission,  in  which  he  had  for  his  coadjutors  Dr.  Peter 
Fabri,  the  syndic  Reset,  and  another  person.  From  several 
entries  in  the  Registers  of  Geneva,  it  would  appear  that  he 
was  employed  in  this  labor  the  greater  part  of  the  year  1542 ; 
and  by  1543  the  new  code  of  laws  and  ordinances  seems  to 
have  been  complete.  It  was  based  on  the  Franchise  et  Sen- 
tences cle  Payerne,  and  on  different  edicts  which  had  been 
promulgated  from  time  to  time.  Some  new  laws  were  add- 
ed, and  some  old  ones  revived.  The  duty  of  each  magistrate 
was  defined,  as  well  as  the  manner  of  his  election.  The  new  . 
code  thus  established  was  observed  in  civil  suits,  and,  where 
its  provisions  fell  short,  the  Roman  law  was  resorted  to.  It 
lasted  until  1568,  when  another  code  was  substituted,  drawn 
up  by  Colladon,  a  native  of  Berri,  and  a  distinguished  juris- 
consult, who  had  been  admitted  to  the  citizenship  of  Geneva 
in  1555.^  Even  in  CoUadon's  revision,  however,  which  was 
begun  in  1560,  Calvin  had  much  influence.  The  smallest 
points  did  not  escape  his  attention.  There  are  minutes 
respecting  danger  from  fire,  instructions  for  the  inspector  of 
buildings,  regarding  the  artillery,  the  watchmen  on  the  tow- 
ers, and  the  like,^  Li  a  Gotha  manuscript  quoted  by  Bret- 
schneider,  there  are  minute  instructions  in  Calvin's  hand- 
writing respecting  judicial  proceeding*,  as  well  as  a  sketch  of 
a  general  code  of  laws.^ 

Calvin  made  his  civil  legislation  subservient  to  his  scheme  ,  • 
of  church  polity.  The  object  of  both  was  to  found  a  theo- 
cratic state  resembling  that  of  the  Israelites  under  Moses,  of 
which  he  himself  was  to  be  the  high-priest  and  prophet.  As 
early  as  1516,  Erasmus  had  observed  with  regret  the  tend- 
ency toward  Judaism  excited  by  the  revival  of  Hebrew  litera- 
ture under  the  auspices  of  Reuchlin  ;  and  had  strongly  char- 
acterized it  as  a  pest  the  most  dangerous  to  Christianity.'* 
This  preference  for  the  Old  Testament  became  a  marked-/ 
characteristic  of  Cahan  and  his  followers.  It  was  signally 
displayed  by  Knox  and  the  Covenanters  in  Scotland,  and  sub- 
sequently by  the  English  Puritans.^     Calvin  avows  and  justi- 

le  docteur  Fabri  d'Evian  sont  charges  de  rediger  les  edits  politiques." — 
Rigistres,  15  Mai,  1542.  "  On  donne  a  Calvin  un  tonneau  de  vin  vieux 
pour  les  peines  qu'il  prend  de  la  vi\\e:'—Rigish-es,  17  Nov.,  1542.  Grenus, 
Fragment  Biographiques. 

1  Senebier,  Hist.  litt.  de  GSnive,  I,  343.  ^  P.  Henry,  ii.,  67. 

3  Ibid,  ii.,  Beil.  3.  *  Erasmus,  Ep.  207. 

5  So  Ananias,  in  Ben  Jonsou's  Alchemist:  "All's  heathen  but  the  He- 
brew." 


132  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

iies  the  adoption  of  the  rigorous  precepts  of  the  Mosaic  law 
in  a  letter  to  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  written  in  1564.^  But 
though  his  legislation  was  modeled  on  that  of  the  Jewish 
lawgiver,  it  was  conceived  in  a  spirit  of  still  greater  severity. 
The  following  parallel  is  extracted  from  the  work  of  Calvin's 
recent  biographer,  who  will  not  be  suspected  of  a  design  to 
give  an  unfavorable  view  of  his  legislation  :  "  The  rigor  of 
the  Old  Testament,  which,  in  announcing  God's  anger  and 
justice,  stepped  forth  on  all  occasions  with  the  punishment  of 
death  against  a  stiff-necked  people,  manifestly  prevails  with 
Calvin.  With  him,  as  with  Moses,  the  spiritual  members 
of  the  state  are  judges.  Both  are  jealous  for  God's  honor, 
and  therefore  Calvin,  like  Moses,  punishes  idolatry  and  blas- 
phemy with  death.  Though  the  Mosaic  laws  do  not  mention 
high  treason,  properly  so  called — which,  however,  neverthe- 
less occurs  in  the  history  of  the  Jewish  state — Calvin  places 
it  in  the  same  category  with  treason  against  God.  To  strike 
or  curse  a  parent  is  in  both  codes  a  capital  offense.  In  both 
theft  is  only  followed  by  loss  of  freedom.  Both  rigorously 
punish  unchastity,  and  adultery  even  with  death.  Moses 
does  not  mention  suicide  ;  by  Calvin  it  is  branded  with  in- 
famy. With  Moses  the  severest  punishment  is  stoning  ;  with 
Calvin  death  by  fire.  Moses  burned  only  the  corpse  of  the 
criminal.  Both  use  degradation  as  a  means  of  punishment ; 
but  infamy,  or  exclusion  from  the  community,  does  not  appear 
in  the  Mosaic  law."^ 

But  although  Calvin  adopted  all  the  rigorous  precepts  of 
the  Jewish  dispensation,  and  indeed  wont  so  far  in  many  in- 
stances as  to  make  the  code  of  Moses  paramount  to  the  law 
of  Christ,  yet  it  is  remarkable  that  he  was  utterly  averse  to 
that  grandeur  and  ceremony  of  worship  which  distinguished 
the  Mosaic  ritual.  The  source  of  both  these  characteristics 
of  his  system  must  perhaps  be  sought  in  his  determination  to 
oppose  the  practice  of  Rome  at  every  point  ;  for  they  can  not 
be  reconciled  with  a  consistent  study  of  the  Old  Testament. 

His  oligarchical  sentiments  have  been  already  adverted  to  ; 
and  he  followed  their  guidance  in  his  civil  legislation.  It 
seems  to  have  been  by  his  advice  that  the  meetings  of  the 

1  "  C'est  que  sur  ce  que  je  vous  avois  allegue  que  David  nous  instruict 
par  son  exemple  de  hair  les  ennemys  de  Dieu,  vous  respondez  qu'  c'estoit 
pour  ce  temps  la  du  quel  soubs  la  loy  de  ri^eur  il  estoit  permi  de  hair  les 
ennemys.  Or,  Madame,  ceste  glose  seroit  pour  renverser  toute  I'escriture, 
et  partant  il  la  faut  fuir  comme  peste  mortelle."  Cluoted  by  Dr.  Henry, 
i.,  452. 

2  P.  Henry,  T^ben  Calvins,  ii.,  68. 


RIGOR  OF  HIS  LAWS.  133 

general  assembly  of  burgesses  were  restricted  to  two  formal 
ones  in  the  course  of  the  year.  It  now  came  to  be  looked 
upon  as  a  sign  of  treasonable  designs  if  any  one  desired  an  ex- 
traordinary meeting  of  that  assembly.  Another  of  his  inno- 
vations upon  the  ancient  constitution  was  that  nothing  should 
be  submitted  to  that  body  which  had  not  been  previously  dis- 
cussed in  the  council  of  Two  Hundred  ;  that  nothing  should 
be  brought  before  the  Two  Hundred  which  had  not  been  first 
submitted  to  the  Sixty  ;  and  that  nothing  should  be  intro- 
duced into  the  latter  assembly  without  the  sanction  of  the 
ordinary  council.^  The  obvious  effect  of  these  regulations  was 
to  centralize  all  power  in  the  ordinary  council ;  and  we  have 
already  seen  the  intimate  connection  between  that  body  and 
the  consistory.  Thus  Calvin  gradually  became,  by  means  of 
the  influence  which  he  had  acquired,  the  main-spring,  as  it 
were,  of  the  Genevese  republic,  which  set  all  its  wheels  in 
motion.  When  the  existing  laws  did  not  suffice  for  his  pur- 
pose, he  would  appear  before  the  council,  and  demand  a  new 
law  in  the  name  of  the  consistory  ;  and  this  he  seldom  failed 
to  obtain.^ 

As  his  power  increased,  he  gradually  enhanced  the  rigor  of 
the  laws.  Before  his  return  to  Geneva  adultery  had  been 
punished  only  with  a  short  imprisonment  and  a  trifling  fine  ; 
Calvin,  as  we  have  said,  made  it  death,  at  least  after  a  sec- 
ond offense.  Spon,  in  his  History  of  Geneva,^  recounts  the 
two  following  instances  which  occurred  in  the  year  1560,  and 
which  he  compares  with  the  severe  virtue  of  ancient  Rome. 
The  council  having  ordered  a  citizen  to  be  whipped  for  the 
crime  of  adultery,  he  appealed  to  the  Two  Hundred,  who,  he 
hoped,  would  absolve  him.  But,  on  revising  his  process,  that 
body  finding  that  he  had  already  been  once  reproved  for  the 
same  offense,  to  the  great  surprise  of  the  criminal,  condemned 
him  to  death.  Shortly  afterward  a  banker  was  executed  for 
the  same  crime,  who  died  with  great  repentance,  and  blessing 
God  that  justice  was  so  well  maintained.  We  have  already 
adverted  to  the  severity  with  which  Calvin  pursued  all 
offenses  against  rehgion  and  against  his  own  personal  author- 
ity, as  well  as  that  of  the  consistory  ;  instances  of  which  will 
present  themselves  in  the  sequel  of  this  narrative.  He  would 
have  carried  these  severities  much  further,  but  that  the  coun- 
cil of  Two  Hundred  sometimes  stepped  in  and  prevented  him.* 
He  left  the  old  laws  against  heresy  on  the  statute-book,  as 

1  Leben  Calvins,  ii.,  65.  2  Jbid.,  p.  67. 

»  Vol.  ii.,  p.  90.  4  See  P.  Henry,  ii.,  69. 


134  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

well  as  the  punishment  of  burning  for  witchcraft,  and  the 
barbarous  custom  of  torture.^ 

That  Calvin  had  to  deal  with  a  perverse  and  corrupt  peo- 
ple must  be  admitted ;  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  he 
took  the  best  method  of  reforming  them.  Education  and  ex- 
ample would  have  done  more  to  effect  this  object  than  all 
these  atrocious  severities,  and  these  precise  and  vexatious  reg- 
ulations,  which  only  caused  the  evil-disposed  to  add  hypocrisy 
to  their  other  vices.  A  recent  Genevese  writer  has  remarked  : 
"  To  those  who  imagine  that  Calvin  did  nothing  but  good,  I 
could  produce  our  registers,  covered  with  records  of  illegiti- 
mate children,  which  were  exposed  in  all  parts  of  the  town 
and  country ;  hideous  trials  for  obscenity ;  wills,  in  which 
fathers  and  mothers  accuse  their  children  not  only  of  errors 
but  of  crimes  ;  agreements  before  notaries  between  young 
women  and  their  lovers,  in  which  the  latter,  even  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  parents  of  their  paramours,  make  them  an  allow- 
ance for  the  education  of  their  illegitimate  offspring  ;  I  could 
instance  multitudes  of  forced  marriages,  in  which  the  delin- 
quents were  conducted  from  the  prison  to  the  church ;  moth- 
ers who  abandoned  their  children  to  the  hospital,  while  they 
themselves  lived  in  abundance  with  a  second  husband  ;  bun- 
dles of  law-suits  between  brothers ;  heaps  of  secret  negotia- 
tions ;  men  and  women  burned  for  witchcraft ;  sentences  of 
death  in  frightful  numbers  ;  and  all  these  things  among  the 
generation  nourished  by  the  mystic  manna  of  Calvin."^ 

1  See  P.  Hemy,  ii.,  75. 

2  GalifFe,  Notices  G6nialogiques,  torn,  iii.,  Preface,  quoted  by  P.  Henry, 
ii.,  78,  note. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Plague  and  Famine  at  Geneva — Calvin  answers  the  Sorbonne — Replies  to 
Pighius — Melancthon's  Opinions  on  Free  Will — Calvin's  Tract  on  Relics 
— Farel  at  Metz — Caroli's  Machinations — Sebastian  Castellio — Calvin's 
Tract  "De  Reformanda  Ecclesia" — His  remarks  on  the  Pope's  Letter  to 
the  Emperor — Tracts  against  the  Anabaptists  and  Libertines — The  Clueen 
of  Navarre  offended — Luther  and  the  Svriss  Church — Calvin's  Opinion  of 
Luther — Luther's  Violence — Calvin's  Tracts  against  the  Nicodemites. 

In  1542  Geneva  was  assailed  by  famine  and  pestilence, 
two  terrible  calamities  which  frequently  walk  hand  in  hand. 
These  evils  were  aggravated  by  the  great  influx  of  refugees  ; 
for  Calvin's  residence  at  Geneva  had  already  caused  it  to  be 
regarded  as  the  head  quarters  of  the  Reformed  religion,  espe- 
cially among  the  French  who  were  obliged  to  fly  their  coun- 
try on  account  of  the  persecutions.  The  lazaretto  or  pest- 
house,  which  lay  without  the  walls,  was  crowded  with  the 
sick ;  and  it  became  necessary  that  a  minister  should  attend 
there,  to  administer  the  last  consolations  of  religion  to  the 
dying.  Beza  informs  us^  that  on  this  occasion  Calvin,  Sebas- 
tian Castellio,  and  Pierre  Blanchet,  offered  their  services, 
while  the  rest  of  the  ministers  shrunk  back  ;  that  the  lot  hav- 
ing fallen  upon  Castellio,  he  altered  his  mind,  and  refused  the 
office ;  that  hereupon  Blanchet  volunteered  to  go  ;  and  that 
both  he  and  the  council  prevented  Calvin,  much  against  his 
will,  from  again  drawing  lots.  This,  however,  does  not  agree 
with  the  account  w^hich  Calvin  himself  gives  of  this  matter. 
In  a  letter  to  Viret,  written  apparently  in  October,  1542,  he 
says  :  '*  The  plague  begins  to  gain  strength  here,  and  few 
whom  it  attacks  escape.  One  of  our  college  w^as  to  be  ap- 
pointed to  attend  the  sick  ;  but  as  Pierre  (Blanchet)  offered 
himself,  we  all  readily  allowed  him  to  go.^  If  any  thing  hap- 
pens to  him,  I  fear  it  will  be  my  turn  to  run  the  risk.  For, 
as  you  observe,  since  we  are  debtors  to  each  member  of  the 
church,  we  can  not  neglect  those  who  need  our  ministry. 
And  though  I  am  not  of  opinion  that  we  should  desert  the 
very  body  of  the  church  in  our  desire  to  serve  a  part  of  it ; 
nevertheless,  so  long  as  we  hold  this  office,  I  do  not  see  what 

1   Vita  Calv.,  anno  1542. 

3  "Facile  omnes  passi  sumus." 


136  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

excuse  we  can  allege ;  if  from  fear  of  danger,  we  abandon 
those  who  stand  in  most  need  of  our  assistance."^ 

This  letter  does  not  betray  any  great  alacrity  to  volunteer 
for  the  post  of  danger,  but  rather  a  very  evident  desire  to  es- 
cape from  it ;  and  the  context  shows  plainly  enough  that  Cal- 
vin did  not  make  an  offer  to  go  to  the  hospital,  as  Beza  would 
have  us  to  believe.  In  eight  or  nine  months  Blanchet  fell  a 
victim  to  his  philanthropy,  and  Calvin  found  himself  in  the 
situation  which  he  had  dreaded.  It  does  not  appear,  however, 
that  he  now  offered  his  services.  It  was  on  this  occasion,  and 
not  in  the  autumn,  that  Castellio  offered  to  go.*  Now,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  Castellio  was  not  a  minister  in  the  Gene- 
vese  church,  but  merely  regent  of  the  schools ;  and  consequent- 
ly it  was  no  part  of  his  duty  to  administer  religious  consolation 
to  the  dying.  He  was  desirous,  however,  of  becoming  a  min- 
ister ;  and  probably  thought  that  so  disinterested  an  offer  might 
-pave  the  way  to  that  office  :  and,  indeed,  the  wording  of  the 
entry  in  which  it  is  recorded  would  lead  us.  to  infer  that  such 
was  his  motive.  He  was  probably  rejected  as  not  qualified. 
Beza  must  have  known  that  Castellio  was  not  a  minister ; 
and  it  is  therefore  difficult  to  assign  a  motive  for  his  dragging 
Castellio's  name  forward  on  this  occasion,  unless  it  were  to 
make  an  invidious  insinuation  against  him.  In  the  entry  re- 
ferred to,  we  find  it  stated  that  M.  Gautier  remarked  that 
many  of  the  ministers  refused  to  repair  to  the  hospital,  and 

said  that  they  would  rather  go  to  the  d .^     On  the  first 

of  June  the  ministers  were  ordered  to  assemble,  and  to  elect 
from  their  body  the  most  proper  person  to  discharge  this  office ; 
but  with  a  special  exception  in  favor  of  Calvin,  who,  it  was 
stated,  was  necessary  to  the  church.*  Shortly  afterward,  Cal- 
vin and  his  brother  ministers  appeared  before  the  council  to 
explain  in  what  manner  they  had  obeyed  their  injunctions. 
They  are  represented  as  stating  that  to  go  to  the  pest-house 
it  was  necessary  to  be  firm  and  not  timid ;  and  that  they  had 

1  MS.  Gen.,  aj^ud  P.  Henry,  ii.,  Beil.  1. 

2  "  Chatillon  regent  s'ofFre  pour  etre  ministre  de  I'hopital  pestilentiel.  M. 
Gautier  remarque  que  plusieurs  ministres  refusoient  d'y  aller  disant  qu'ils 
iroient  plutot  au  diable." — Rigistres,  1  Mai,  1543.  Grenus,  Fragmens 
Biographiques. 

3  Dr.  P.  Henry,  ii.,  42,  note,  gives  this  entry  somewhat  differently,  as  fol- 
lows :  "  1  Mai,  1543.  M.  Calvin  dit  que  M.  Bastien  Chatillon  est  tout  pret 
pour  aller  en  1'  hopital  pestilentiel,  et  pretend  qu'il  y  a  des  predicans  qui 
ont  dit  que  plutot  aller  a  I'hopital  pestilentiel  ils  voudroient  etre  aux  diable. 
Resolu  de  les  demander  demain  et  leur  faire  bonnes  remontrances."  If  this 
be  correct,  it  was  hardly  fair  in  Calvin  to  denounce  his  brethren  for  an  un- 
willingness in  which  he  himself  partook. 

'^  lUgistres,  1  .Tuin. 


CALVIN  ANSWERS  THE  SORBONNE.  137 

found  a  Frenchman,  a  faithful  brother,  whom  they  presented 
for  that  purpose,  if  the  council  found  it  agreeable.  And  al- 
though it  was  their  duty  to  serve  God  and  his  church  as  well 
in  necessity  as  in  prosperity,  even  unto  death,  yet  they  con- 
fessed that  in  this  point  they  were  wanting  to  their  duty..  The 
council  seems  to  have  dismissed  them  with  some  indignation, 
and  a  debate  appears  to  have  ensued  whether  they  should  be 
further  heard.  This  was  resolved  in  the  affijmative,  but  Cal- 
vin was  not  required  to  appear  with  the  rest ;  "  because  he  was 
wanted  to  serve  in  the  church,  to  answer  the  questions  of 
travelers,  and  to  give  his  advice  to  the  council."  The  re- 
maining ministers  again  appeared  before  the  council,  and  con- 
fessed "that  God  had  not  yet  bestowed  on  them  the  grace  of 
strength  and  fortitude  sufficient  to  go  to  the  hospital,  and 
begged  to  be  excused."  Only  one  minister,  M.  de  Geneton, 
professed  himself  ready,  provided  the  will  of  God  were  taken 
in  the  election,  and  that  the  lot  fell  upon  him.  The  council 
concluded  its  sitting  by  the  following  resolution  :  "  Resolved, 
to  pray  to  God  to  give  the  ministers  more  constancy  in  future."^ 

Without  inquiring  how  far  Calvin  acted  consistently  with 
his  duty  and  professions  in  seeking,  or  at  all  events  in  accept- 
ing, this  immunity,  we  can  not  at  least  concede  to  him  that 
praise  for  a  generous  self-devotion  which  Beza's  account  of  the 
matter  would  demand.  Farel's  conduct  at  Neufchatel,  on  a 
like  occasion,  forms  a  perfect  contrast  to  that  of  his  former 
colleague.  He  visited  the  sick  daily,  poor  and  rich,  friend  or 
foe,  without  distinction.^ 

Having  concluded  his  legislative  labors,  Calvin  had  now 
more  time  to  devote  to  literary  pursuits.  From  this  period  to 
the  end  of  his  life  he  was  at  intervals  more  or  less  engaged  in 
controversies.  In  the  year  1542  the  Sorbonne  published  a 
summary  of  their  doctrines  in  twenty-five  articles,  which  were 
sanctioned  by  an  edict  of  the  French  king.  To  these  Calvin 
replied  in  the  same  year  in  his  "  Antidoton  adversus  Articulos 
Facultatis  theologicai  SorbonictE,''  or  "Antidote  against  the 
Articles  of  the  Sorbonne,"  and  which,  in  the  following  year, 
he  translated  into  French.  These  articles  he  prints  separately, 
appending  to  each  an  ironical  proof,  which  at  first  sight  the 
reader  might  take  to  be  seriously  meant,  and  then  subjoins  his 
Antidote.  This  piece  displays  some  humor.  The  following 
will  suffice  to  give  the  reader  a  specimen  of  the  style.^ 

1  The  preceding  entries  are  quoted  by  P.  Henry,  ii.,  43,  note. 

2  Kirchhofer,  Leben  Farels,  ii.,  .33. 
'  See  Calvin,  Opera,  viii.,  195,  B. 


138  LIFE  OF  JOHiN  CALVIN. 

"Article  xii. — Concerning  the  invocation  of  saints.  It 
is  holy,  a9id  particularly  acceptable  to  God,  to  pray  to  the 
blessed  mother  of  our  Lord,  and  to  the  saints  tuhich  are  in 
heaven,  that  they  may  be  our  advocates  and  intercessors  ivith 
God. 

"  This  is  proved  as  follows  :  What  should  the  saints  do  in 
heaven  if  they  did  not  pray  for  us  ?  But  if  they  pray  for 
us,  then  must  we  pray  to  them.  The  Lutherans  deny  this 
consequence,  but  it  may  be  demonstrated  as  follows.  The 
saints  resemble  God.  But  God  wills  that  we  pray  to  him.  ' 
Therefore  the  saints  do  so  likewise.  As  for  the  gibe  of  the 
Lutherans,  that  we  make  the  saints  with  very  long  ears  (valde 
auritos)  the  solution  is  easy.  It  is  because  they  see  all  that 
is  done  on  earth  by  the  reflection  which  they  have  from  the 
irradiation  of  God.  A  second  proof :  Because  the  pagans  al- 
ways had  minor  gods  for  their  intercessors,  and  it  is  not  reason- 
able that  Christians  should  have  fewer  privileges  than  heathens. 
Whence  their  error  was  corrected  in  this  manner,  viz.,  by  the 
honors  which  they  offered  to  their  idols  being  transferred  to 
the  saints ;  as  when  the  Pope  changed  the  name  of  the  temple 
which  used  to  be  called  the  Pantheon.  And,  in  like  manner, 
from  the  multitude  of  festivals  it  came  to  pass  that,  in  con- 
tempt of  the  gentiles,  the  Christians,  in  celebrating  them,  got 
drunk  in  honor  of  the  saints." 

In  the  same  year  Calvin  was  employed  in  preparing  his 
answer  to  Pighius's  book  on  the  Freedom  of  the  Will.^  Albert 
Pighius  was  a  native  of  Campen,  in  Over-Yssel,  and  had 
studied  at  Louvain  and  Cologne,  where  he  attained  consider- 
able proficiency  in  mathematics  and  theology.  He  had  been 
a  pupil  of  Adrian's,  the  tutor  of  Charles  V.,  whom  that  em- 
peror afterward  procured  to  be  elected  to  the  Papal  throne. 
He  was  a  fanatical  defender  of  the  Papal  power ;  and  the 
zeal  with  which  he  espoused  this  cause  obtained  him  much 
respect  and  consideration,  not  only  from  Pope  Adrian  VI.,  but 
from  his  successors,  Clement  •  VII.  and  Paul  III.  Pighius's 
work,  in  which  he  sought  to  renew  the  controversy  which 
had  been  formerly  carried  on  between  Luther  and  Erasmus 
on  the  same  subject,  was  divided  into  ten  books ;  of  which 
the  first  six  related  to  the  question  of  the  freedom  of  the  will, 
and  the  remaining  four  embraced  that  of  predestination.  Cal- 
vin was  desirous  of  getting  his  answer  ready  by  the  approach- 

^  Defensio  sancB  et  orthodoxcB  Doctrines  de  Servitute  et  Liberatione  hu- 
mani  Arbitrii  adversus  Calumnias  Alberti  Pighii,  Campensis.  Authore 
J.  Calvino,     Geneva,  1543. 


HE  REPLIES  TO  PIGHIUS.  139 

itfjg  Frankfort  fair ;  and  therefore  confined  himself  to  the 
former  portion  of  Pighius's  book,  or  that  relating-  to  the  will ; 
with  the  intention  of  examining  the  question  of  predestination 
at  some  future  opportunity.^  Dr.  Henry  states  that  Calvin's 
treatise  had  the  effect  of  converting  his  opponent.^  That  on 
so  subtle  and  intricate  a  question  he  should  have .  overcome 
all  that  obstinacy  and  love  of  his  own  opinions  which  usually 
characterize  a  controversialist,  fortified,  too,  as  they  were  in 
this  instance,  by  religious  prejudice  and  animosity,  would  in- 
deed have  been  an  extraordinary  triumph :  but,  unfortunately, 
there  is  one  circumstance  which  prevents  our  believing  that  it 
was  achieved.  Pighius  was  dead  before  Calvin's  book  was 
published.  A  letter  of  John  Vorstius  de  Lambeca,  dean  of 
the  cathedral  of  Utrecht,  and  one  of  the  executors  of  Pighius, 
states  that  he  expired  on  the  26th  of  December,  1542  ;  and 
ascribes  his  decease  to  the  indefatigable  labor  which  he  exerted, 
while  in  a  bad  state  of  health,  in  defending  himself  from  an  at-, 
tack  which  Bucer  had  made  upon  him,^  Calvin's  dedication  of 
his  book  to  Melancthon  is  dated  in  February,  1543,  and  there- 
fore Pighius  must  have  been  dead  almost  two  months  before 
it  saw  the  light.  It  is  true  that  in  this  dedication  Calvin 
speaks  of  his  adversary  as  if  he  were  still  alive  ;  and  that  in 
the  beginning  of  his  book  "On  the  Eternal  Predestination  of 
God,"  he  states  that  Pighius  died  shortly  after  his  former 
answer  to  him  had  been  published.*  But  these  circumstances 
can  not  be  considered  as  invalidating  the  direct  evidence  ad- 
duced by  Bayle.  Owing  to  the  slowness  of  communication  in 
those  days,  Calvin  might  very  well  have  been  ignorant  in 
February  that  his  opponent  had  died  toward  the  end  of  the 
preceding  December ;  and  as  nine  years  elapsed  before  he 
wrote  his  second  book  against  him,  there  is  nothing  extra- 
ordinary in  his  having  forgotten — if,  indeed,  he  had  ever 
known — the  exact  period  of  Pighius's  decease.      The  story 

^  See  the  tract,  Opera,  viii.,  118,  A. 

^  "  Merkwiirdig  ist  fiir  uns  dieser  Pighius  nur  weil  or  sich  durch  das 
Lesen  der  Schrift  Calvins  von  dessen  Ansicht  uberzeugen  liess." — Leben 
Calvins,  ii.,  289.  See  also  the  table  of  contents,  Th.  ii.,  cap.  7.  "Calvin — 
setzt  den  Streit  Luthers  mit  Erasmus  gegen  Pighius  von  Campen  fort, 
welcher  letztere  iiberzeught  wird." 

3  Bayle,  Pighius,  rem.  F.  A  letter  of  Cardinal  Sadolet's,  dated  June 
17th,  1543,  also  alludes  to  his  death  [Ibid.,  rem.  C.)  The  title  of  Bucer's 
work  was  :  "i>e  vera  Ecdeaiarum  in  Doctrind,  Ceremoniis  et  Disciplind 
Reconciliatione,  una  cum  Responsione  ad  Calumnias  Alberti  Pighii,  Cam- 
pensis,  contra  Confessionem  et  Apologiam  Protestantium  nuper  vulgatas," 
&c. 

*  "  Pighius  died  a  little  after  my  book  was  published.  Wherefore,  not  to 
insult  a  dead  dog,  I  applied  myself  toother  lucubrations." — Opera,  viii.,  594. 


140  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

rests  on  the  authority  of  Crakanthorpe,  who  says  in  his 
'' Defensio  Ecclesia^  Anglicance,''  that  Pighius,  hy  turning 
over  Calvin's  "Institutes,"  and  other  works,  for  the  purpose 
of  refuting  them,  became  himself  a  Calvinist  in  one  of  the 
chief  articles  of  faith.  ^  The  story,  thus  vaguely  told,  gains 
more  probability,  and  it  is  somewhat  strengthened  by  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  opinions  of  Pighius  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  regarded  as  altogether  orthodox  by  the  Romish  Church.^ 
The  article  alluded  to  may  be  that  of  the  eucharist :  but  if  by 
the  phrase  "one  of  the  chief  articles  of  faith,"  Crakanthorpe 
intended  to  allude  to  the  dogma  of  predestination,  we  find  as 
much  difficulty  as  ever ;  for  had  Pighius  really  been  a  convert 
to  Calvin's  opinion  on  that  head,  it  is  not  very  probable  that 
the  latter  should  have  written  a  book  nine  years  after  his 
death  for  the  purpose  of  confuting  him ;  and  in  which  he  not 
only  takes  no  credit  for  his  triumph,  but  loads  his  adversary 
with  the  grossest  abuse.  And,  indeed,  the  story  has  been  long 
ago  rejected  by  Gerdesius.^ 

In  the  dedication  of  this  work  to  Melancthon,  Calvin  states 
that  he  offered  it  to  him  for  two  reasons :  first,  because  he 
knew  it  would  be  agreeable,  from  the  personal  friendship 
which  Melancthon  bore  him  ;  and,  secondly,  because  it  con- 
tained a  defense  of  the  sound  doctrine.  He  also  intimates 
that  at  some  former  period  Melancthon  had  advised  him  to 
answer  Pighius,  in  case  that  author  should  continue  his 
attacks.  It  is  probable  that  something  of  this  sort  had  passed 
in  conversation  between  the  two  Reformers  when  they  met 
either  at  Frankfort  or  Worms  ;  but  it  is  well  known  that  the 
opinions  of  Melancthon  on  that  difficult  and  important  ques- 
tion underwent  a  gradual  change.  Like  Luther  and  most  of 
the  other  Reformers,  he  had  at  first  adopted  the  views  of  St. 
Augustin  in  their  fullest  extent ;  and  in  the  first  edition  of  his 
''Loci  Theologici,''  published  in  1525,  when  he  was  only  24 
years  of  age,  had  utterly  denied  all  freedom  of  the  will.^  In 
the  second  edition,  however,  which  appeared  in  1535,  it  is 
certain  that  he  allowed  it  a  limited  freedom,  that,  namely,  of 

1  duoted  by  Ancillon  [Melan.  crit.,  ii.,  43),  who  says,  that  if  those  who 
wrote  against  Calvin  meditated  upon  his  works,  "II  arrivei'oit  peut-etre 
tres  soavent  ce  qui  est  arrive  a  Albertus  Pighius,  lequel  comme  le  dit 
Crakanthorpe,  au  ch.  69,  de  son  livre,  Defensio  Ecclesice  An^licance  contra 
Archiep.  Spalatensem:  'dum  refellendi  studio  Calvini  Institutiones  et  scripts 
evolvJt,  in  uno  ex  prajcipuis  fidei  dogmatibus  factus  est  ipse  Calvinianus.'" 

2  Bayle,  1.  c. 

3  Hist.  Evangelii  Renovati,  iii.,  §  50. 

*  See  Matthes,  Leben  Melancthons,  p.  54.  Lawrence,  Bampton  Lectures^ 
serm.  iv.,  note  6. 


MELANOTHON'S  OPINIOiNS  ON  FREE  WILL.  141 

assent  and  concurrence.^  In  the  third  edition,  published  in 
1544,  he  went  a  step  further,  and  admitted  the  freedom  of  the 
will  and  the  operation  of  contingency ;  to  which  he  was  led 
chiefly  by  the  consideration  that,  on  the  contrary  hypothesis, 
sin  must  be  ascribed  to  the  will  of  God.^  In  the  fourth  edition, 
which  appeared  in  1548,  he  formally  adopted  the  definition 
of  Erasmus.^ 

It  is  curious  to  observe  the  different  effects  which  meditation 
on  this  abstruse  subject  produced  on  the  minds  of  Calvin  and 
Melancthon.  The  latter  was  as  competent  as  the  former  to 
appreciate  the  logical  force  of  the  argument  in  favor  of  neces- 
"ty  ;  yet,  as  he  grew  in  years  and  wisdom,  he  looked  beyond 
the  mere  links  of  the  deduction,  and  doubted  a  conclusion  of 
human  reason  which  led  to  such  pernicious  and  absurd  conse- 
quences. Calvin,  on  the  contrary,  with  his  natural  love  for 
hypothesis  and  dogmatism,  clung  the  faster  to  his  first  convic- 
tions the  more  he  advanced  in  life.  To  his  mind  the  idea  of 
the  Divine  Being  which  such  a  doctrine  implies  presented 
nothing  repulsive.  One  who  could  visit  the  sins  of  mankind 
with  temporal  punishments  such  as  have  been  described  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  and  think  them  congenial  with  the  spirit 
of  Christianity,  was  not  unnaturally  led  to  insist  upon  the 
theory  of  absolute  decrees. 

Melancthon  replied  to  Calvin's  dedication  in  a  letter  dated 
on  the  11th  of  May,  1543.'*  He  acknowledges  in  suitable 
terms  the  compliment  paid  to  him  ;  but  the  letter  bears  evi- 
dence of  the  change  which  had  already  taken  place  in  his 
opinions.  Convinced  by  experience  that,  to  the  great  mass 
of  mankind,  speculations  on  this  subject  would  be  either  un- 
intelligible or  mischievous,  and  therefore  useless  or  worse,  he 
aims  in  this  letter  to  divert  Calvin  from  pursuing  them.  He 
intimates  that  amid  the  disputes  which  attended  on  the  birth 
of  the  Reformation  his  own  aim  had  ever  been  to  lay  aside  all 
that  was  not  adapted,  by  its  simplicity,  to  be  easily  understood, 
and  therefore  to  be  practically  useful.    He  points  out  that  the 

1  Thus  we  find  the  following  passage  in  this  edition  :  "  Here  there  are 
three  concurrent  causes  of  a  good  action  :  the  word  of  God,  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  the  human  will  assenting  to  the  word  of  God." 

2  "Having  estabUshed  this  proposition,  that  God  neither  causes  nor  wills 
sin,  it  follows  that  there  is  contingency;  that  is,  that  all  things  that  happen 
do  not  happen  necessarily.  For  since  sin  sprang  from  the  will  of  the  devil 
and  man,  and  not  from  that  of  God,  it  follows  that  our  wills  were  so  formed 
that  they  were  capable  of  not  sinning.  But  the  freedom  of  the  will  is  the 
cause  of  the  contingency  of  our  actions." 

3  Msitthes(  Leben.  Melancthons,  p.  5.5,  et  seq. 
*  Calvin,  Epp.  c'  Re.^p.,  Kp.  48 


142  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Catholics  had  taken  courage  from  the  divisions  among  the 
Protestants,  and  insists  on  the  necessity  for  the  latter  abandon- 
ing all  minor  differences,  and  uniting  in  defense  of  their  prin- 
cipal tenets.  He  exhorts  Calvin,  in  preference  to  treating  the 
subject  of  predestination,  to  vt^rite  on  the  revelation  of  our 
Saviour,  on  the  unperceived  wisdom  of  the  Church,  on  the 
greatness  of  human  infirmity,  on  repentance  and  faith  in 
mercy  promised  through  Christ,  on  genuine  prayer,  and  the 
Church's  true  use  and  virtue,  on  the  holiness  of  the  Sacra- 
ments, on  the  proper  form  of  ecclesiastical  government  as  es- 
tablished by  the  Apostles,  and,  lastly,  on  eternal  life.  "  I 
wish,"  he  continues,  "  you  would  transfer  your  eloquence  to 
the  adorning  of  these  momentous  subjects ;  by  which  our  friends 
would  be  strengthened,  our  enemies  terrified,  and  the  weak 
encouraged  :  for  who  in  these  days  possesses  a  more  forcible 
or  splendid  style  of  disputation  1" 

There  will  be  occasion,  however,  to  refer  to  this  letter  further 
on  ;  and  therefore  at  present  it  is  only  necessary  to  observe 
that,  from  some  of  the  concluding  remarks,  we  may  infer  that 
at  this  time  Melancthon's  principal  objection  to  the  doctrine 
lay  in  its  practical  inconvenience.  "  I  do  not  write  this  let- 
ter," he  concludes,  *'  to  dictate  to  you  who  are  so  learned  a 
man,  and  so  well  versed  in  all  the  exercises  of  piety.  I  am 
persuaded,  indeed,  that  it  agrees  with  your  sentiments,  though 
less  subtle  {TTaxvrepa),  and  more  adapted  for  use." 

In  the  same  year  with  his  answer  to  Pighius,  appeared 
Calvin's  tract  on  relics,^  in  which  he  enumerates  various  false 
specimens  preserved  in  cathedrals  and  other  places  throughout 
Europe ;  going  through  those  relating  to  Christ,  the  Virgin, 
the  Apostles,  &;c.,  in  order.  It  was  originally  written  in 
French  ;  but  a  Latin  translation,  from  the  hand  of  Nicholas 
de  Gallars,  was  published  at  Geneva  in  1548.  On  the  9th 
of  October,  1543,  Calvin  addressed  an  epistle  to  the  Reformed 
Church  of  Montbelliard  respecting  certain  points  of  discipline, 
which  is  remarkable  for  the  moderation  of  its  tone.^ 

In  the  summer  of  that  year  an  adventure  of  his  friend 
Farel's  caused  Calvin  to  revisit  Strasburgh  for  a  short  time. 
The  particulars  of  this  affair  are  briefly  as  follows  : 

Since  the  year  1524,  Metz,  at  that  time  a  free  and  imperial 
city,  had  always  contained  a  small  number  of  Protestants ; 
who,  however,  met  with  much  discouragement  and  opposition. 

1  "  Avertissement  tres  utile  du  grand  profit  qui  reviendroit  a  la  Chrestient6 
B  il  se  faisait  inventaire  de  tous  les  corps  saints  et  reliques  qui  sont  tant 
en  Italia  qu'en  France,"  &c.  2  gp.  51. 


FAREL  AT  METZ.  143 

In  1542  their  prospects  were  assuming  a  brighter  appearance. 
Some  of  the  Dominicans  had  begun  of  their  own  accord  to 
preach  the  Reformed  doctrines ;  to  which  also  Gaspar  de 
Huy,  the  newly-elected  sheriff  or  burgomaster  was  inclined. 
De  Huy  and  his  brother  permitted  the  Protestants  to  assem- 
ble in  their  houses  for  worship  ;  and  nothing  seemed  wanting 
to  the  organization  of  a  regular  church  but  an  efficient  minis- 
ter. One  had  been  invited  from  Morsee,  but  he  was  deficient 
in  the  requisite  courage.  Under  these  circumstances  Fare], 
with  his  usual  boldness  and  zeal,  determined  to  try  what  he 
could  effect ;  a  resolution  which  met  with  the  entire  approval 
of  Calvin,  who  thought  nobody  better  qualified  for  such  an 
undertaking  than  his  experienced  and  dauntless  friend.^  Farel 
arrived  at  Metz  early  in  September,  and  delivered  his  first 
sermon  in  the  churchyard  of  the  Dominicans.  In  vain  the 
monks  tried  to  drown  his  voice  by  ringing  their  bells ;  the 
powerful  tones  of  Farel,  raised  to  a  pitch  of  hoarseness,  pre- 
vailed above  the  din.^  On  the  following  day  three  thousand 
persons  assembled  to  hear  him  preach  ;  but  by  the  advice  of 
some  of  the  principal  among  the  Reformed  party,  including 
De  Huy  himself,  Farel  consented  to  postpone  his  address  till 
matters  had  assumed  a  more  tranquil  aspect.  The  news  of 
Farel's  arrival  had  reached  he  ears  of  the  council,  who  sum- 
moned him  before  them.  He  was  asked  by  whose  orders  he 
preached.  '' By  the  order,"  said  Farel,  "of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
at  the  requisition  of  his  members :"  but  he  could  not  be  brought 
to  mention  any  names.  He  then  dilated  with  force  and  unction 
on  the  sacred  nature  of  his  calling,  and  bade  the  council  to  be 
mindful  of  their  duty.  While  the  latter  were  deliberating  as 
to  what  they  should  do  with  him,  his  friends,  alarmed  for  his 
safety,  led  him  home  ;  and  placing  a  man  who  bore  some  re- 
semblance to  him  in  size  and  appearance  upon  a  horse,  pre- 
tended to  conduct  him  out  of  the  town.  Meanwhile  Farel 
lay  concealed,  waiting  the  result  of  a  message  which  had  been 
dispatched  to  Strasburgh  for  support  and  assistance.  The 
Strasburghers  sent  a  message  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and 
Landgrave  of  Hesse,  requesting  that  that  portion  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Metz  which  had  embraced  the  Reformed  tenets  might 
be  admitted  into  the  Protestant  league.  This  was  approved 
of  by  the  Landgrave,  who,  without  waiting  for  the  reply  of 
the  Elector,  sent  an  embassador,  accompanied  with  two  others 

1  Kirchliofer,  Lehen  Farels,  ii.,  50. 

2  Bucer  Calvino,  Epp.  ei  Resp.,  Ep.  37.    This  letter  is  erroneously  dated 
in  1541. 


144  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

from  Frankfort  and  Strasburgh,  to  request  the  government  of 
Metz  to  allow  the  Protestants  of  that  city  to  have  one  church, 
and  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion.  The  council  refused  to 
receive  these  embassadors,  and  it  was  thought  expedient  that 
Farel  should  withdraw.  '  He  accordingly  retired  to  the  neigh- 
boring town  of  Gorze ;  where,  under  the  protection  of  William, 
Count  Furstenberg,  he  exercised  his  ministry  without  opposi- 
tion. Even  here,  however,  his  uncontrollable  zeal  led  him 
into  an  awkward  adventure.  A  Franciscan  descanting  in  the 
pulpit  on  the  eternal  virginity  of  Mary,  Farel  publicly  gave 
him  the  lie.  Hereupon  the  Avomen  who  were  present  set  upon 
him,  and  dragged  him  about  by  the  hair  of  his  head  and  beard ; 
and  he  would  probably  have  paid  for  his  rashness  with  his  life, 
had  he  not  been  rescued  by  a  Captain  Frank. ^ 

The  consequences  of  this  adventure  obhged  Farel  to  keep 
his  room  for  some  time.  When  in  a  condition  to  come  out, 
he  again  resumed  his  ministry,  and  his  sermons  were  attend- 
ed by  considerable  numbers  from  Metz.  Enraged  at  his  suc- 
cess, the  Roman  Catholics  of  that  city  formed  the  detestable 
design  of  massacring  him  and  his  congregation.  The  rene- 
gade Caroli  seems  to  have  been  at  the  head  of  this  plot.  At 
his  instigation  the  Duke  of  Guise  sent  a  company  of  infantry, 
together  with  some  cavalry,  to  fall  upon  the  congregation  at 
Gorze;  which  on  Easter  day,  1543,  had  assembled  to  the 
number  of  300,  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper.^  Service 
was  ended,  and  the  congregation  preparing  to  depart,  when 
suddenly  the  trumpet  was  heard ;  and  Guise's  band,  led  by 
his  son  the  Duke  d'Aumale,  fell  upon  the  helpless  and  unsus- 
pecting multitude.  Numbers  were  slaughtered,  and  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  Furstenberg  and  Farel  escaped  into  the 
castle  ;  whence  the  count  afterward  got  Farel  removed,  at 
considerable  hazard,  to  Strasburgh,  with  a  wagon-load  of  the 
wounded.  This  foul  and  cowardly  massacre  is  said  to  have 
been  sanctioned  by  the  French  king.^ 

The  Protestant  princes  and  states  of  the  empire  now 
warmly  took  up  the  cause  of  their  brethren  at  Metz ;  and 
in  a  convention  held  at  Strasburgh,  they  obtained  from  the 
magistrates  of  the  former  city  not  only  that  those  who  had 
been  obhged  to  fly  should  be  reinstated  in  their  houses  and 
property,  but  that  they  should  be  allowed  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion,  and  that  a  church  should  be  assigned  to  them 
for  that  purpose.     This  privilege,  however,  they  enjoyed  but 

I  Kirchhofer,  ii.,  55.  2  Ruchat,  v.,  211. 

3  "Non  abnuente  neque  improbante  Galliarum  rege." — Gerdes.,  iv.,  149. 


CAROLI'S  MACHINATIONS.  145 

a  short  time.  Caroli,  who  had  missed  the  chief  object  of 
his  diabolical  plot,  now  attacked  Farel  and  the  Protestants  of 
iMetz  in  another  way  ;  and  endeavored  to  weaken  their  cause 
with  the  German  princes  by  throwing  suspicion  on  Farel's 
tenets  respecting  the  eucharist.  Encouraged  by  the  clergy 
and  council  of  Metz,  his  insolence  rose  to  such  a  pitch  that 
he  challenged  Farel  to  dispute  wdth  him  either  before  the 
Pope,  or  the  Council  of  Trent,  or  the  theologians  of  the 
French  universities,  or  those  of  Salamanca  or  Alcala  in 
Spain,  or,  finally,  if  those  were  too  distant,  either  at  Louvain 
or  Padua.  The  dispute  was  to  be  conducted  at  the  risk  of 
life  on  both  sides  ;  for  which  purpose  Caroli  was  to  constitute 
himself  a  prisoner  at  Metz,  and  Farel  to  place  himself  in  the 
hands  of  the  French  king.  Caroli  forwarded  this  citation  to 
the  Pope,  and  to  the  principal  European  powers,  as  well  as 
to  the  universities  before  mentioned.^ 

Farel  answered  this  absurd  challenge  with  moderation  and 
good  temper.  He  ridiculed  the  idea  of  making  himself  a  pris- 
oner ;  but  nevertheless  declared  his  willingness  to  dispute  with 
Caroli  at  Metz,  provided  Calvin  and  Viret,  whom  Caroli  had 
also  attacked,  should  be  heard  at  the  same  time.  The -coun- 
cils of  Berne  and  Geneva  were  unwilling  that  their  ministers 
should  be  exposed  to  this  risk.  Still,  in  order  that  Caroli 
might  not  claim  a  vain-glorious  triumph,  it  was  thought  ad- 
visable that  Calvin  should  proceed  to  Strasburgh,  and  en- 
deavor to  procure  a  conference.  Both  he  and  Farel  appeared 
before  the  council  of  that  city,  and  demanded  a  safe  conduct 
to  Metz.  But  this  could  not  be  obtained  ;  and  after  spending 
six  weeks  at  Strasburgh,  to  no  purpose,  during  which  he  ad- 
dressed three  letters  to  the  council  of  Geneva,  Calvin  at  length 
returned  at  their  request.  He  and  Farel  never  again  came 
into  contact  with  Caroli,  who  remained  some  time  longer  at 
Metz.^  This  apostate  subsequently  abandoned  himself  to  a 
life  of  profligacy ;  and  is  said  to  have  died  of  a  disgraceful 
malady  in  a  hospital  at  Rome.^ 

In  the  following  November,  Farel  paid  a  visit  to  Geneva. 
The  persecutions  which  he  had  undergone  at  Metz  manifest- 
ed themselves  in  the  state  of  his  apparel ;  and  the  council 
voted  him  a  new  suit,  after  the  fashion  of  Calvin's.  Farel 
appeared  before  that  body,  and  admonished  them  as  to  their 
lives,  exhorting  them  to  maintain  justice,  and  to  reverence 
the  word  of  God  ;  but  he  declined  their  present,  and  also  their 

I  Kirchhofer,  ii.,  64.  2  Ibid.,  p.  71 

3  Ruchat,  v.,  134. 

G 


146  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

invitation  to  him  to  take  up  his  residence  at  Geneva.  The 
suit  seems  to  have  been  put  in  Calvin's  keeping  till  it  should 
find  a  wearer  ;  and  in  December  he  wrote  to  Farel  to  banish 
his  scruples  and  accept  of  it.^ 

The  subject  of  education  had  occupied  Calvin's  attention 
soon  after  his  return  to  Geneva,  as  an  important  auxiliary  to 
his  civil  and  ecclesiastical  reforms.  In  November,  1541,  he 
procured  his  old  master,  Maturin  Cordier,  to  be  appointed  rec- 
tor of  the  schools.  The  Franciscan  convent  (Convent  de  Rive) 
was  assigned  him  for  a  residence,  together  with  a  salary  ol" 
400  florins,  besides  what  payments  he  might  obtain  from  the 
scholars.  After  a  few  months,  however.  Cordier  seems  to 
have  resigned  ;  for  early  in  the  following  spring  we  find  the 
celebrated  Castellio,  whose  name  has  been  already  mentioned 
in  connection  with  the  lazaretto,  invited  to  Geneva  to  fill  the 
same  post.  Bastien  de  Chatillon,  for  so  he  is  called  in  the 
Registers  of  Geneva,  but  who  assumed,  as  he  himself  admits, 
out  of  vanity,  the  more  classical  name  of  Castalio,  which  has 
been  familiarized  into  Castellio,  was  born  in  the  year  3  515, 
either  in  Savoy,  or  more  probably  at  Chatillon  in  Bresse.  He 
had  been  tutor  to  some  nobleman  at  Lyons,  where  he  taught 
the  Greek  tongue ;  but  Calvin  first  became  acquainted  with 
him  at  Strasburgh,  where  they  both  lodged  in  the  same  house. 
Calvin  was  much  struck  with  Castellio's  genius  and  learning, 
and  was  hence  led  to  procure  for  him  the  situation  alluded  to. 
He  was  indeed  a  true  type  of  the  scholar  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury ;  of  deep  and  varied  learning,  of  boundless  industry,  and 
whose  literary  ardor  neither  poverty  nor  misfortune  could 
damp.  The  following  works  may  be  mentioned,  as  showing 
the  extent  and  variety  of  his  studies  :  Dialogues,  embracing 
the  contents  of  scriptural  history  ;  a  translation  of  the  Sibyl- 
line oracles;  a  Latin  version  of  the  Pentateuch;  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Psalms  and  other  scriptural  songs  ;  a  Greek  poem 
on  the  life  of  John  the  Baptist ;  a  description  of  the  prophet 
Jonas  in  Latin  verse;  translations  from  Homer,  Xenophon, 
and  St.  Cyril ;  and  of  some  of  the  Italian  writings  of  Ber- 
nardin  Ochino  into  Latin.  In  1551,  he  published  a  Latin 
version  of  the  Bible,  remarkable  for  the  elegance  of  its  style  ; 
which,  however,  was  carried  to  a  degree  of  aflectation  quite 
out  of  keeping  with  the  sublime  simplicity  of  the  original. 
Thus  he  substituted  classical  for  scriptural  terms  ;  as  lotio  for 

*  "The  suit  is  at  my  house  till  some  one  be  found  to  take  it.  Your  re- 
fusing it  was  all  very  well ;  but  vou  may  now  very  properly  accept  of  it." 
—MS.  Gen.,  apvd  P.  Henrv,  ii.,  40. 


SEBASTIAN  CASTELLIO.  Wf 

baptismus,  genius  for  angelus,  respublica  for  ecclesia,  collegi- 
um for  synagoge.  Sec.  His  introduction  and  notes  are  said 
to  display  much  learning.  He  entertained  some  singular  opin- 
ions respecting  the  imperfections  of  Scripture  ;  and  thought 
that  the  writings  of  St.  Paul,  from  his  superior  education, 
contained  a  more  elevated  theology  than  other  parts  of  the 
New  Testament.^  He  was  also  the  author  of  several  contro- 
versial tracts. 

Although  not  a  minister,  Castellio  was  desirous  of  becom- 
ing one  ;  and  was  thus  led  to  devote  much  time  to  the  study 
of  theology.  His  labors  in  this  way  brought  him  into  collis- 
ion with  Calvin,  who  was  not  a  man  to  endure  any  views 
which  differed  from  his  own.  The  first  public  trace  of  any  ill 
feeling  between  them  occurs  in  an  entry  in  the  Registers  under 
date  of  the  14th  of  January,  1544  ;  which  states  that  Calvin 
had  represented  to  the  council,  that  Bastien  (Castellio),  the 
rector  of  the  schools,  was  a  very  learned  man ;  but  that  he 
held  certain  opinions  which  disqualified  him  for  the  ministry. 
It  is  also  stated  that  he  was  dissatisfied  with  his  salary  of  450 
florins.  From  another  entry,  on  the  28th  of  the  same  month, 
it  appears  that  the  principal  subject  of  disagreement  between 
him  and  Calvin  was  the  Song  of  Solomon  ;  which  Castellio 
declared  to  be  a  poem  of  a  loose  and  obscene  description  com- 
posed in  Solomon's  youth,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  struck  out 
of  the  Canon.  He  also  objected  to  the  passage  in  the  Creed 
respecting  Christ's  descent  into  hell.^  These  disputes,  how- 
ever, between  him  and  Calvin  had  an  earlier  origin  ;  and 
seem  to  have  arisen  soon  after  Castellio  came  to  Geneva,  on 
the  occasion  of  a  French  translation  of  the  New  Testament 
which  he  was  preparing.  In  a  letter  to  Viret,  written  in 
1542,  Calvin  says  :  "  I  will  tell  you  a  nice  story  about  Sebas- 
tian, which  will  make  you  at  once  merry  and  angry.  He 
came  to  me  the  other  day  and  asked  if  I  would  allow  his 
edition  of  the  New  Testament  to  be  published.  I  told  him 
that  it  wanted  a  great  deal  of  correction  ;  and  on  his  asking 
the  reason,  I  pointed  to  some  passages  in  the  few  chapters 
which  he  had  left  with  me  some  time  before  by  way  of  speci- 
men. He  replied  that  he  had  been  more  careful  in  the  rest, 
and  again  asked  what  I  would  do  ?  I  said  that  I  did  not 
wish  to  hinder  the  printing  of  his  book,  and  was  even  willing 
to  fulfil  the  promise  I  had  given  to  John  Gerard  (a  bookseller 
at  Geneva)  to  look  into  it,  and  alter  what  wanted  correction. 

1  Trechsel,  Aiititr.,  i.,  208,  et  seq.     P.  Henry,  ii.,  383,  note 
"  These  entries  will  be  found  in  P.  Henry,  ii.,  385,  note 


148  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

This  proposal  he  decHned  ;  but  he  ofiered  to  come  and  read 
his  manuscript  to  me,  if  I  would  appoint  an  hour.  I  refused 
to  bind  myself  down  to  any  fixed  time,  even  if  he  would  give 
me  a  hundred  crowns,  and  perhaps  to  be  wrangling  two  whole 
hours  over  a  single  particle.  Hereupon  he  departed,  seemingly 
in  a  rather  ill  humor.  To  show  you  what  a  faithful  inter- 
preter he  is,  and  how  he  makes  new  faults  where  he  intends 
to  correct,  I  will  just  give  you  a  single  instance.  In  the  pas- 
sage— "  The  Spirit  of  God  which  dwells  in  us — (1' esprit  de 
Dieu  qui  habite  en  nous) — he  renders,  haimts  us  {hante  nous :) 
though  in  French  hanter  does  not  mean  to  inhabit,  but  to 
frequent.  This  single  puerile  error  is  sufficient  to  condemn 
the  whole  book."^     But  to  return  to  the  narrative. 

In  consequence  of  Calvin's  denunciation  to  the  council,  Cas- 
tellio  demanded  a  public  disputation  with  him  on  the  subject 
of  Christ's  descent  into  hell.  This,  however,  the  council  dis- 
creetly refused  to  permit ;  but  allowed  him  to  discuss  the  mat- 
ter privately  with  Calvin,  and  the  rest  of  the  ministers.  As 
might  have  been  anticipated,  this  discussion  had  no  other  re- 
sult than  to  embitter  the  feelings  of  the  disputants.  Castellio 
demanded  his  dismissal  from  the  office  of  rector  of  the  schools  ; 
and,  as  it  was  expected,  and  as  indeed  he  had  given  out,  that 
he  intended  to  retire  from  Geneva,  Calvin,  at  his  own  request, 
furnished  him  with  a  handsome  letter  of  recommendation, 
signed  by  himself  in  the  name  of  the  Genevese  ministers.^  In 
this  he  states  that  Castellio's  conduct  had  been  such  that,  with 
the  consent  of  all  the  clergy,  he  would  have  been  admitted 
into  the  ministry,  but  for  the  circumstance  of  his  not  being 
able  to  agree  with  them  on  the  points  before  mentioned. 
Then,  after  giving  a  short  summaiy  of  the  dispute,  Calvin 
concludes  his  letter  thus  : — "  Lest  any  one  should  suspect  that 
Sebastian  hath  left  us  for  any  other  cause  than  the  preceding, 
we  furnish  him  with  this  testimonial  to  be  used  wherever  he 
may  go.  He  vacated  the  rectorship  of  the  schools  of  his  own 
accord,  and  had  so  behaved  himself  in  it,  that  we  judged  him 
worthy  of  the  ministry.  It  was  not  an  evil  life,  nor  any  im- 
pious dogmas  respecting  the  capital  articles  of  our  faith,  that 
prevented  his  being  received  into  it,  but  the  cause  which  we 
have  explained  alone."  Besides  tliis  public  testimonial,  Cal- 
vin is  said  to  have  likewise  furnished  him  with  private  letters 
of  recommendation  to  some  of  his  friends. 

Of  these  documents,  however,  Castellio  does  not  appear  to 

1  MS.  Goth.,  apud  Schlosser,  Leben  Bezas,  p.  55,  note. 

2  This  document,  dated  Feb.  17tb,  1544,  is  printed  by  Dr.  Flenry,  ii.Beil.  13. 


CASTELLIO  BANISHED  FROM  GENEVA.  149 

have  availed  himself,  nor  to  have  quitted  Geneva  till  his  be- 
havior two  or  three  months  afterward  drew  down  upon  him 
a  public  expulsion  ;  the  occasion  of  which  is  described  in  a 
letter  from  Calvin  to  Farel,  dated  on  the  30th  of  May,  1544.^ 
The  preceding  day  appears  to  have  been  one  of  those  dedicated 
to  public  discussions  on  some  text  of  Scripture.  There  were 
about  sixty  persons  present  in  the  church,  and  the  subject 
proposed  was  the  text,  "  Showing  ourselves  the  servants  of  the 
Lord,  in  long  suffering,"  &c.  On  this  theme  Castellio  kept 
up  a  continual  antithesis,  to  the  disparagement  of  the  Genevese 
ministers,  who,  he  endeavored  to  show,  formed  at  all  points  a 
complete  contrast  with  the  servants  of  Christ.  "  Paul,"  said 
he,  "  was  the  servant  of  God,  but  you  serve  yourselves ;  he 
was  most  patient,  you  most  impatient ;  he  watched  by  night 
for  the  edification  of  the  church,  you  spend  the  night  in  play  ; 
he  was  sober,  you  are  drunken  ;  he  was  vexed  by  seditions, 
you  excite  them  ;  he  was  chaste,  you  are  fornicators  ;  he  was 
imprisoned,  you  imprison  those  who  offend  you  by  a  single 
word  ;  he  used  the  power  of  God,  you  a  strange  power ;  he 
suffered  from  others,  you  persecute  the  innocent."  During 
the  delivery  of  this,  as  Calvin  calls  it,  sanguinary  harangue, 
the  latter  was  silent,  lest  the  dispute,  he  says,  should  become 
too  violent  before  so  many  strangers.  This  silence  may  have 
been  discreet ;  but  it  was  contrary  to  Calvin's  usual  practice  : 
and  as  the  charges  which  Castellio  brought  against  the  Gen- 
evese ministers  were  certainly  grave  ones,  and  openly  made 
before  a  public  assembly,  they  seem  precisely  of  a  description 
which  required  a  public  answer.  Calvin,  however,  went  pri- 
vately to  the  syndics,  and  complained  of  Castellio's  conduct ; 
who  on  the  following  day  was  summoned  before  the  council, 
and,  after  a  patient  hearing,  says  Beza,  condemned  and  ban- 
ished.^ Such  was  the  summary  process  then  used  at  Geneva 
for  getting  rid  of  those  who  made  themselves  obnoxious  to 
Calvin  and  the  ministers. 

Castellio  retired  to  Basle,  where  there  was  more  tolera- 
tion, and  where  he  obtained  the  Greek  professorship.  At 
present,  therefore,  we  shall  dismiss  him,  as  he  will  again 
claim  our  notice  on  the  occasion  of  an  attack  made  upon  him 
by  Calvin  after  the  affair  of  Servetus. 

The  year  1544  was  an  active  one  in  Calvin's  literary  life. 
During  the  course  of  it  he  published  no  fewer  than  six  tracts, 
some  of  them  of  considerable  length.     In  that  year  the  Em- 

1  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  ii.,  Beil.  13, 
8  Vita  Calv.,  anno  1544. 


150  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

peroror  Charles  V.  held  a  diet  at  Spires.  The  threatening 
aspect  of  the  political  horizon  at  this  juncture,  the  French 
king  being  leagued  against  him  with  Solyman,  the  Turkish 
emperor,  obliged  Charles  to  court  the  assistance  of  the  Protest- 
ant princes  of  Germany,  and  for  that  purpose  to  make  some 
important  concessions  with  regard  to  religion.  All  the  edicts  . 
issued  against  the  Protestants  were  suspended,  and  the  free 
and  public  exercise  of  their  religion  allowed,  until  either  a 
general  or  national  council  should  be  assembled  in  Germany ; 
an  event  which  the  emperor  undertook  to  bring  about  as 
speedily  as  possible.  Meanwhile,  Protestants  were  declared 
eligible  as  m<3mbers  of  the  imperial  chamber.^  At  the  request 
of  Bucer,  Calvin  drew  up  a  tract  stating  the  views  of  the 
Reformers,  to  be  presented  to  the  emperor  and  states  at  this 
diet.  Bucer,  however,  expected  but  little  from  the  turn  of 
Charles's  mind,  devoured,  as  he  was,  in  temporal  affairs,  by 
an  insatiable  ambition,  and  sunk,  with  regard  to  spiritual 
ones,  in  the  most  degrading  superstition.  The  instances 
which  Bucer  gives  of  the  last  show,  that  though  Charles,  as 
in  the  instance  just  recorded,  may  have  sometimes  sacrificed 
his  religious  to  his  political  views,  yet  that  he  was  at  heart  a 
bigoted  Roman  Catholic,  with  symptoms  of  that  melancholy 
fanaticism  which  attended  the  close  of  his  days.  "  He  is 
completely  addicted,"  says  Bucer,  "  to  puerile,  or  rather  anile, 
superstitions.  He  offers  up  long  prayers  every  day  on  his 
bended  knees ;  he  tells  his  beads  while  prostrate  on  the  earth, 
and  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  a  portrait  of  the  Virgin."  ^  Charles's 
character,  indeed,  presents  a  curious  mixture  of  bigotry  and 
ambition.  During  his  youth  and  manhood  the  latter  got  the 
better  of  the  former;  but  in  his  declining  years  the  ruling 
passion  asserted  its  empire,  and  showed  itself  strong  in  death. 
The  full  title  of  Calvin's  tract  is,  "  An  humble  Exhortation 
to  the  most  invincible  Emperor  Charles  V.,  and  to  the  most 
illustrious  Princes  and  other  Orders  now  attending  an  imperial 
Diet  at  Spires,  that  they  should  seriously  undertake  a  Ref- 
ormation of  the  Church."  ^  It  first  sets  forth,  in  very  severe 
terms,  not  only  the  abuses  in  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the 
Romish  Church,  but  the  scandalous  lives  of  its  clergy.  It 
then  adverts  to  the  amendments  introduced  by  the  Reforma- 
tion, which,  it  is  maintained,  are  the  best  that  could  be 
applied.     Finally,   the  emperor  is   recommended  to   call  a 

1  Bx)bertsoita,  Charles  V.,  b.  vii. 

2  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  52. 

'  Its  Latin  title  is,  " De  Necessitate  Reformand<B  Ecclesite,"  &c. 


HIS  REMARKS  ON  THE 'HOPE'S  LETTER.  151 

German  council,  in  preference  to  a  general  one,  as  the  best 
means  of  restoring  peace  and  concord  to  the  empire :  an  argu- 
ment which  is  supported  by  several  examples  of  provincial 
synods. 

If  the  emperor  ever  read  Calvin's  book,  it  shared  the  same 
fate  with  his  dedication  to  Francis  I.  ;  and,  so  far  from  pro- 
ducing any  effect  upon  Charles's  convictions,  seems  to  have 
rendered  him  more  bitter  against  the  Protestants  where  he 
could  be  so  without  detriment  to  his  political  interests,  that  is 
to  say,  in  his  hereditary  dominions.  For  Myconius,  in  a  letter 
to  Calvin  dated  from  Basle  on  the  6th  of  March,  1545,  in 
which  he  thanks  him  for  a  copy  of  the  book,  says  :  "If  the 
emperor  has  read  it,  the  effect  hath  been  contrary  to  what 
you  intended,  so  hotly  does  he  persecute  the  saints  in  Bel- 
gium." ^ 

The  Pope,  Paul  III.,  finding  himself  obliged,  in  spite  of  his 
reluctance,  to  call  a  council,  had  at  first  endeavored  to  pro- 
cure its  assembling  in  Italy.  At  the  diet  held  at  Spires,  how- 
ever, in  1542,  he  had  authorized  his  nuncio  to  propose  Trent; 
which  town,  though  in  the  German  dominions,  was  still  suf- 
ficiently near  the  borders  of  Italy  to  render  it  convenient  for 
him  to  exercise  a  control  over  the  proceedings  of  the  assembly. 
Accordingly,  he  ordered  his  legates  to  proceed  thither  in  No- 
vember of  that  year,  though  the  German  Protestants  had 
openly  expressed  their  determination  not  to  attend  the  meet- 
ing. After  waiting  a  few  months,  as  nobody  appeared  but  a 
few  prelates  from  the  ecclesiastical  states,  the  assembly  began 
to  appear  ridiculous,  and  the  Pope  found  himself  compelled  to 
prorogue  it.^ 

When  Paul  heard  of  the  concessions  which  the  emperor 
had  made  to  the  Protestants  at  the  diet  in  1544,  he  felt 
highly  indignant,  and  wrote  him  a  letter  of  remonstrance  and 
exhortation,  dated  from  Rome,  on  the  23d  of  August  of  that 
year.'  On  this  epistle  Calvin  published  some  remarks  which 
he  called  Scholia,  in  which  he  replies  to  the  letter  paragraph 
by  paragraph.  He  is  very  severe  upon  the  Pope,  who  was 
one  of  the  Farnese  family;  and  whom,  with  no  very  happy 
attempt  at  humor,  he  addresses  throughout  by  the  name  of 
Frenesius.     The  following  translations  of  some  passages  will 

1  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  61.  ^  Robertson,  1.  c. 

3  It  is  printed  among  Calvin's  tracts.  The  title  runs,  "  Admonitio  pater- 
na  Pauli  HI.,  Pontificis,  ad  invictum  Csesarem,  Carolam  V.  Q.u4  eum 
castigat  quod  se  Lutheranis  priEbuerit  nimis  facilem ;  deinde  quod  turn  in 
cogenda  synodo,  turn  in  definiendis  fidei  controversiis,  aliquid  potestatis 
Bibi  sumpserit." 


152  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

serve  to  show  the  style  of  controversy  usual  in  those  days : 
"  Behold  a  vi^onderful  metamorphosis.  The  Pope  is  become 
so  religious  that  he  actually  shudders  at  hearing  of  the  peace 
granted  to  the  Protestants.  It  is  a  little  strange  on  the  other 
hand,  that  he  makes  terms  with  strumpets,  and  doth  not 
abhor  the  contamination  of  receiving  the  wages  of  their  sin ; 
that  he  settles  with  the  Jews  for  an  annual  payment,  not 
only  that  they  may  despise  the  Christian  religion  with  impu- 
nity, but  exercise  open  robbery  through  usury ;  nay,  that  he 
is  not  averse  even  to  the  Turks.  But  his  sanctimony  chiefly 
appears  in  his  fearing,  with  the  Apostle  Paul,  lest  evil  com- 
munications should  corrupt  good  manners.  What  hast  thou 
to  do  with  these  words  of  the  holy  Apostle,  thou  wicked  apos- 
tate, and  leader  of  all  apostasy  ?  Thou  who  spendest  thy 
days  with  thy  most  wicked  councilors  in  hatching  treason,  in 
planning  frauds,  in  fanning  the  flames  of  war,  in  inventing 
new  methods  of  rapine,  in  compassing  the  destruction  of  the 
innocent,  in  destroying  the  Church,  and  in  dissipating  re- 
ligion ;  during  the  rest  of  thy  time  delighting  thyself  pleasantly 
with  Epicureans,  or  wallowing  like  a  swine  amid  thy 'herd 
of  harlots,  speaking  and  hearing  nothing  else  but  what 
breathes  the  most  execrable  impiety,  or  what  may  excite  by 
its  obscenity  thy  worn-out  lust,  which  hath  not  yet  ceased  to 
itch."  And,  again  :  "  Thou  the  successor  of  Peter  !  who  art 
no  more  like  him  than  a  Nero,  a  Domitian,  or  a  Caligula  ? 
Unless,  perchance,  thou  preferrest  Heliogabalus,  who  added 
a  new  priesthood  to  the  empire.  All  these,  indeed,  were 
called  pontiffs,  or  high  priests,  which  was  lawful  according  to 
the  superstition  of  those  times  ;  but  thou  usurpest  that  name 
among  a  Christian  people  against  all  law  and  right,  against 
the  inviolable  decree  of  Christ,  against  the  institutes  of  all 
the  saintly  fathers.  Thou  the  vicar  of  Christ  I  whose  only 
thoughts,  whose  every  desire  and  act,  tend  to  procure  the 
abolishment  of  Christianity,  provided  the  empty  name  be  re- 
tained, which  thou  abusest  as  a  harlot  doth  her  paint.  Thou 
Christ's  vicar !  whom  even  boys  now  know  to  be  the  very 
Antichrist  ?  What  sort  of  Christ  wilt  thou  fabricate  for  us, 
if  thou  wouldst  have  us  acknowledge  his  image  in  thy  tyr- 
anny 1  We  behold  the  high  priest  of  all  impiety,  the  stand- 
ard-bearer of  Satan,  a  ferocious  tyrant  of  souls,  a  cruel  execu- 
tioner, with  regard  to  his  way  of  life,  a  monster  of  all  sorts 
of  wickedness ;  in  a  word,  that  Son  of  Perdition  whom  the 
Apostle  portrays — and  shall  we  hold  him  to  be  Christ's 
vicar  ?     We  behold,  I  say,  a  wolf,  by  whom  Christ's  sheep 


TRACTS  AGAINST  THE  ANABAPTISTS,  ETC.  153 

are  devoured ;  a  robber  by  whom  they  are  driven  off ;  a 
marauder  by  whom  they  are  slain ;  and  shall  he  be  to  us  the 
vicar  of  Christ  ?" 

In  the  same  year  Calvin  likewise  published  two  other 
tracts  in  French  ;  one  of  them  directed  against  the  Anabap- 
tists, and  the  other  against  the  sect  of  Libertines.  The  chaS' 
tisement  inflicted  on  the  Anabaptists  at  Munster  had  not 
extirpated  that  fanatical  sect,  though  they  were  become 
comparatively  harmless.  Calvin's  tract  against  them,  entitled 
"  Brief ve  Instruction  pour  armer  tout  hon  Fidele  contre  les 
Erreurs  de  la  Secte  commune  des  Anabaptistes'' — was  ad- 
dressed to  the  church  of  Neufchatel.  In  it  he  lays  down  and 
refutes  seven  articles  of  the  creed  of  the  Anabaptists.  The 
sixth  concerns  the  civil  magistrate;  whose  functions  Calvin 
upholds  by  examples  chiefly  drawn  from  the  Jewish  govern- 
ment. 

As  the  Anabaptists  were  now  pretty  well  subdued,  Calvin 
handled  them  with  mildness ;  but  with  the  Libertines,  a 
spreading,  pestilent,  and  dangerous  sect  he  was  more  severe. 
Pantheism  was  the  distinguishing  mark  of  their  speculative 
tenets  ;  which,  however,  partook  of  all  the  heresies  which  had 
ever  troubled  the  Church.  By  a  metaphysical  distinction 
respecting  the  nature  of  evil,  which  they  held  to  be  only  a 
negation  of  good,  they  attempted  to  confound  the  boundaries 
of  right  and  wrong,  to  convert  immorality  into  a  system,  and 
to  establish  an  unbridled  license.  They  rejected  the  Evan- 
gelists, disbelieved  the  existence  of  Satan  and  of  all  angels, 
and  denied  the  resurrection.  They  characterized  each  of  the 
Apostle  by  a  ridiculous  nickname  ;  calling  St.  V'a.vl,  2')ot-casse  ; 
St.  Peter,  renonceur  deDieu;  St.  John,  jouvenceau  etfollet; 
St.  Matthew,  usurier,  &c. 

Absurd  and  dangerous  as  were  the  tenets  of  this  sect,  they 
succeeded  in  spreading  them  in  several  countries  in  Europe. 
Strype,  in  his  '*  Annals,"  ^  notices  the  existence  of  this  sect  in 
England  at  a  later  period,  and  gives  the  following  descrip- 
tion of  their  doctrines.  They  held  that  there  was  no  devil 
but  such  as  painters  made  ;  that  they  who  had  the  spirit  of 
God  knew  all  things ;  that  marriage  was  a  sacrament  and 
wonderful  speculation  ;  that  there  were  great  mysteries  and 
great  speculations  in  the  mass,  and  that  it  was  a  God-service ; 
that  Adam  had  no  sin,  but  only  Eve  ;  that  a  man  ought  not 
to  weary  his  body  in  travail  and  labor,  for  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  would  not  tarry  in  a  body  that  was  weary  and  irk- 
1  Vol.  ii.,  Pt.  ii.,  p.  287,  et  seq. 


154  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

some ;  that  the  Bible  was  not  the  word  of  God,  but  a  signi- 
fication thereof ;  for  that  it  was  but  ink  and  paper,  but  that 
the  word  of  God  was  spirit  and  life  ;  with  other  things  of  the 
like  kind. 

Calvin's  tract  against  these  fanatics  was  also  addressed  to 
the  church  of  Neufchatel,  and  is  entitled,  "  Aux  Ministres 
de  VEglise  de  Neufchdtel  contre  la  Secte  fanatique  et  furi- 
euse  des  Libertins  qui  se  nomment  Spirituels."  In  it  he 
represents  them  as  the  worst  sect  that  ever  existed,  yet  with- 
out originality  in  their  doctrines.  These  were  nothing  but  a 
combination  of  old  heresies ;  which,  however,  from  the  excess- 
ive ignorance  of  the  Libertines,  they  could  not  have  learned 
by  reading  :  wherefore  he  concludes  that  Satan  must  have 
been  their  prompter.  In  the  second  chapter  he  compares 
them  to  the  sect  described  in  2  Peter,  ii.,  12,  and  in  Jude, 
ver.  10.  They  affected  a  tumid  and  unintelligible  diction,  and 
you  would  sometimes  fancy  that  they  were  rapt  in  ecstasy 
above  the  clouds  ;  but  it  was  a  mere  affectation.  Their  doc- 
trine made  them  worse  than  the  beasts  ;  for  they  ridiculed  all 
idea  of  conscience  and  morality,  and  thought  that  every  man 
should  resign  himself  to  the  conduct  of  his  own  spirit.  Bad 
as  was  the  Pope,  this  sect  was  worse  ;  and  people  should  spit 
in  their  faces  as  they  passed  by.  They  had  a  peculiar  jargon, 
like  the  Bohemians  or  gipsies ;  and  though  they  used  common 
words,  they  distorted  them  so  that  they  could  not  be  under- 
stood. The  art  of  simulation  was  a  principle  with  them ;  and 
they  excused  their  double  tongue,  by  alleging  that  Christ 
spoke  in  parables.  They  justified  all  kinds  of  sin  and  iniquity 
by  1  Cor.,  vii.,  20.  The  crucifixion,  they  held,  was  but  a 
play,  or  morality,  designed  to  typify  the  mystery  of  our  sal- 
vation. 

This  sect  had  made  considerable  progress  among  the  higher 
classes  in  France  ;  and  Margaret  of  Navarre,  though  not, 
perhaps,  herself  infected  with  the  tenets  of  these  fanatics,  pro- 
tected at  her  court  two  men  of  note  among  them,  Quintin 
and  Pocques.  These  men  Calvin  attacked  and  ridiculed  in 
his  book.  He  says  that  he  had  known  Pocques,  whom  he 
describes  as  a  short,  little  mass-priest  (sacrijiculus,  statura 
parvus),  for  three  years,  that  he  had  been  at  Geneva,  and 
wanted  to  get  a  certificate  from  him,  but  that  he  saw  through 
the  man,  and  refused  it.  This  Pocques  had  written  a  book 
which  Calvin  characterizes  as  Contes  du  coq  a  Vane,  and  gives 
some  passages  from  it  with  remarks  subjoined.^ 
1  See  the  tract,  ch.  4  &  23. 


THE  QUEEN  OF  NAVARRE  OFFENDED.  155 

Margaret  was  highly  displeased  with  Calvin's  remarks 
upon  her  'proteges,  thinking  them  in  some  manner  an  attack 
upon  herself;  and  the  enemies  of  the  Reformation  laid  hold 
of  the  opportunity  to  endeavor  to  make  a  breach  between 
them.'  She  even  caused  letters  to  be  written  to  Calvin  in 
which  she  expressed  her  displeasure  at  his  book.  Calvin  ex- 
cused himself  in  a  letter  to  Margaret,  dated  on  the  25th  of 
April,  1545,^  in  which  he  particularly  insists  that  he  had  had 
no  intention  to  bring  royalty  and  government  into  contempt ; 
a  charge  of  which  he  should  be  acquitted  by  all  who  knew 
him  :  nor  would  the  respect  he  entertained  for  Margaret,  on 
account  of  her  services  in  spreading  the  Reformation,  have 
permitted  him  to  harbor  such  a  design.  So  far  from  attack- 
ing her  household,  he  says  he  had  not  even  mentioned  it ; 
"  yet  I  think,"  he  continues,  "  that  you  do  not  esteem  your 
house  more  precious  than  that  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  of  which 
one  member  is  named  Devil;  even  a  servant  seated  at  the 
table  of  his  master,  and  appointed  to  the  honorable  post  of 
being  one  of  the  embassadors  of  the  Son  of  God."  In  this 
letter  Calvin  does  not  retract  an  iota  of  what  he  had  said 
against  Pocques  and  Quintin.  It  appears  that  Margaret  had 
even  gone  so  far  as  to  say  that  she  would  not  have  Calvin  for 
a  servant  of  hers.  His  answer  to  this  is  at  once  moderate 
and  dignified.  "  As  for  your  saying,"  he  writes,  "  that  you 
would  not  have  such  a  servant  as  I,  I  confess  that  I  am 
not  fit  to  render  you  any  great  service.  I  have  not  the 
faculty,  neither  have  you  need  of  it.  Nevertheless,  the  afi^ec- 
tion  is  not  wanting  ;  and,  by  the  help  of  God,  so  long  as  I 
live  I  will  always  persist  in  saying  so.  And  though  you 
should  disdain  me  for  a  servant,  that  will  not  prevent  my 
being  such  in  heart  and  will.  For  the  rest,  they  who  knoAV 
me  are  well  aware  that  I  have  never  studied  to  enter  into  the 
courts  of  princes  ;  for  I  was  never  tempted  by  preferment  and 
honors.  Had  I  done  so  it  might  possibly  have  been  in  vain ; 
but  I  thank  the  Lord  that  I  was  never  tempted  to  it.  For  I 
have  sufficient  reason  to  content  myself  with  the  service  of 
that  good  master  who  has  accepted  and  retained  me  in  his 
house,  and  appointed  me  to  the  honorable  office  which  I  hold, 
however  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  I  should, 
indeed,  be  too  ungrateful  if  I  did  not  prefer  this  condition  to 
all  the  riches  and  honors  of  the  world."     Calvin  then  defends 

1  P.  Henry,  ii.,  407. 

^  Printed  from  the  original  French,  Gen.  MS.  in  P.  Henry,  ii.,  Beil.  14. 
It  forms  Ep.  62  in  the  Lausanne  edition. 


156  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

himself  in  the  same  strain  of  dignified  humility,  against  a 
calumnious  charge  which  had  been  made  against  him  of  in- 
constancy in  maintaining  his  principles. 

On  the  25th  of  November  in  this  year  (1544)  we  find  Cal- 
vin writing  to  Bullinger,  and  discharging  the  balance  of  a 
small  debt  which  he  owed  him/  In  the  same  letter  he 
alludes  to  the  persecutions  which  he  feared  were  preparing 
for  the  Waldenses  in  Provence,  who  had  published  a  confes- 
sion of  their  faith  about  three  years  previously  at  Aix.  He 
exhorts  Bullinger  to  be  ready  to  assist  those  who  might  take 
refuge  at  Zurich,  and  to  employ  for  them  his  mediation  with 
the  French  king.  Toward  the  close  of  the  letter  he  tenders 
his  advice  to  Bullinger  respecting  the  course  he  should  pursue 
with  regard  to  an  attack  recently  made  by  Luther  on  the 
doctrine  of  the  Swiss  churches  respecting  the  eucharist.  For 
some  years  this  controversy  had  been  buried  in  silence ;  and 
though  Luther,  in  the  form  of  prayer  for  deliverance  from 
the  aggression  of  the  Turks,  published  in  1542,  had  enumer- 
ated among  the  causes  of  God's  anger,  "  the  pestilential  sects 
and  abominable  heresies  of  Muntzer,  the  Zwinglians,  the 
Anabaptists,  and  several  others  which  had  arisen  in  the 
august  name  and  under  pretense  of  the  gospel,"  it  had  been 
thought  prudent  to  take  no  public  notice  of  the  insult.^ 
Luther  had  been  highly  offended  by  Zwingli's  work,  "  Chris- 
tiance  Fidei  Expositio  ad  Christianum  Regem,''  published 
by  Bulhnger  in  1536;  which  appeared  to  him  so  contra- 
dictory to  all  Zwingli's  professions  at  the  conference  of  Mar- 
burg, that  he  was  persuaded  he  had  acted  falsely  by  him. 
Luther  had  also  heard  rumors  that  he  was  but  little  respected 
at  Zurich ;  and  Melancthon's  evident  inclination  toward  the 
Swiss  churches  had  helped  to  wound  him.^  All  these  dor- 
mant causes  of  anger  were,  in  1 543,  kindled  into  a  sudden 
flame,  by  his  receiving  from  Froschover,  the  printer,  copies 
of  some  books  issued  from  his  press  at  Zurich,  among  which 
was  a  new  Latin  version  of  the  Bible,  by  Leo  Juda.  Luther 
wrote  back  to  Froschover,  directing  him  never  again  to  send 
him  any  thing  published  by  the  Zurich  ministers  ;  declaring 
that  he  would  neither  read  nor  receive  their  books ;  that  the 
churches  of  God  could  have  no  communication  w;ith  men 
who  were  not  only  damned  themselves,  but  drew  others  to 
perdition  and  the  flames  of  hell ;  and  that  as  long  as  he  lived 

1  Something  more  than  a  crown.    See  Ep.  57. 

2  Ruchat,  v..  230.  ^  P.  Henry,  ii.,  349. 


CALVIN'S  OPINION  OF  LUTHER.  157 

he  would  oppose  them  by  his  prayers  and  writings.^  It  was 
in  vain  that  Melancthon  sought  to  appease  him.  In  his 
"  Annotations  on  Genesis,"  pubhshed  in  1544,  he  inveighed 
against  the  Sacramentaries ;  and  in  a  confession  of  faith, 
which  appeared  in  the  course  of  the  same  year,  he  broke  out 
into  open  violence,  loading  Zwingli  and  his  followers  of  the 
Swiss  confession  with  abuse,  and  calling  them  enemies  of  the 
sacrament,  and  children  of  perdition. 

Luther's  violence  was  lamented  by  moderate  men  of  all 
parties,  as  it  cut  off  all  hopes  of  union  among  the  churches. 
Melancthon  was  particularly  grieved  at  it.  He  wrote  to 
BuUinger  to  announce  the  appearance  of  Luther's  confession, 
in  the  following  terms  :  "  Perhaps  before  you  get  this  letter 
you  will  have  received  a  most  atrocious  publication  of  Luther's, 
in  which  he  revives  the  war  on  the  subject  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. He  has  never  before  taken  up  the  cause  so  violently. 
Cease,  therefore,  to  hope  for  the  peace  of  the  churches."^ 
Writing  to  Frecht,  pastor  of  Ulm,  on  the  same  subject,  he 
says :  "If  my  tears  were  as  plentiful  as  the  waters  of  the 
Danube,  they  would  not  suffice  to  exhaust  the  grief  which  I 
feel  at  this  renewal  of  the  sacramental  war."  He  even  said 
to  Pontantus  that  if  Luther  persisted  in  this  conduct  he  would 
seek  to  establish  himself  elsewhere.^ 

Many  persons  thought  that  the  ministers  of  Zurich  ought 
to  reply  to  these  invectives,  but  a  few  of  more  sedate  judg- 
ment, among  whom  were  Bucer  and  Calvin,  held  the  con- 
trary opinion.  The  latter,  in  his  letter  to  BuUinger,  before 
referred  to,  says  :  "  I  hear  that  Luther  has  at  length  pub- 
lished an  atrocious  invective,  not  so  much  against  you  as 
against  us  all.  In  these  circumstances  I  can  scarcely  venture 
to  ask  for  your  silence  ;  since  it  is  unjust  that  the  innocent 
should  be  thus  attacked  without  having  an  opportunity  to 
clear  themselves  :  although  it  is  at  the  same  time  difficult  to 
decide  whether  that  would  be  expedient.  But  I  hope  you 
will  remember  in  the  first  place  how  great  a  man  Luther  is, 
and  in  how  many  excellent  endowments  he  excels ;  Avith  what 
fortitude  and  constancy,  with  what  dexterity  and  efficacious 
learning,  he  hath  hitherto  applied  himself  both  to  overthrow 
the  kingdom  of  Antichrist,  and  to  propagate  the  doctrine  of 
salvation.  I  have  often  said  that  though  he  should  call  me 
devil,  I  should  always  be  ready  to  give  him  due  honor,  and 

1  M.  Adamus,  Vita  Lutheri,  p.  151. 

2  M.  Adamus,  Vita  Bullingeri,  p.  485. 

3  Ruchat,  V.  234. 


158  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

to  acknowledge  him  as  a  famous  servant  of  God :  although, 
as  he  abounds  in  excellent  virtues,  so  likewise  does  he  labor 
under  great  faults.  I  wish  he  would  endeavor  to  restrain 
the  violence  with  which  he  boils  over  on  all  occasions ;  and 
that  he  would  always  direct  the  vehemence  which  is  natural 
to  him  against  the  enemies  of  truth,  and  not  brandish  it  also 
against  the  servants  of  the  Lord.  I  should  be  glad  if  he  took 
more  pains  in  searching  into  his  own  defects.  Flatterers 
have  done  him  much  harm,  especially  as  he  is  by  nature  too 
much  inclined  to  self-indulgence ;  but  it  is  our  duty,  while  we 
reprehend  what  is  bad  in  him,  to  make  due  allowance  for  his 
excellent  qualities.  I  beg  of  you  and  your  colleagues,  there- 
fore, in  the  first  place  to  consider  that  you  have  to  deal  with 
a  distinguished  servant  of  Christ,  to  whom  we  are  all  much 
indebted  ;  and  in  the  next,  that  all  you  will  obtain  by  a  con- 
flict will  be  to  afford  sport  to  the  ungodly,  and  a  triumph 
over  ourselves  as  well  as  over  the  gospel ;  for  if  we  indulge 
in  mutual  abuse,  they  will  be  but  too  ready  to  believe  both 
sides." 

This  letter  discovers  much  good  sense,  and  a  due  apprecia- 
tion of  Luther's  merits.  At  the  same  time  we  must  remem- 
ber that  Calvin  had  but  little  personal  interest  in  this  affair  ; 
and  in  such  cases  nobody  was  better  qualified  by  the  excel- 
lence of  his  judgment  to  give  good  advice.  But  the  resent- 
ment which  he  discovered  when  any  point  of  his  own  more 
peculiar  doctrine  was  attacked,  or  in  disputes  in  which  he 
was  personally  implicated,  shows  that  he  formed  no  exception 
to  the  common  remark,  that  it  is  much  easier  to  give  good 
advice  to  others  than  to  follow  it  one's  self.  The  abuse  to 
which  he  descended  in  his  controversy  with  the  Lutheran 
Westphal,  and  which  was  admirably  calculated  "  to  afford 
sport  to  the  ungodly,"  sufficiently  confirms  this  observation. 
In  such  cases  the  natural  heat  and  vindictiveness  of  his  tem- 
per got  the  better  of  his  understanding. 

Nevertheless,  the  Zurich  divines  thought  proper  to  answer 
Luther ;  and  published  an  Apology,  or  Defense,  both  in  Latin 
and  German,  early  in  the  ensuing  year  (1545),  under  the  title 
of  *'  Orthodox  Confession  of  the  Ministers  of  the  Church  of 
Zurich,  containing  their  Faith  and  Doctrine,  common  to 
them  with  the  Church  Universal  of  the  Saints  ;  particularly 
with  respect  to  the  Supper  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  To- 
gether with  a  reasonable  and  modest  Answer  to  the  vain  and 
scandalous  Calumnies,  Opinions,  and  Insults,  of  Dr.  Martin 
Luther,"    &c.      In  this  piece,    though   it   avoided   personal 


LUTHER'S  VIOLENCE.  159 

abuse,  Luther  was  pretty  severely  handled.  Although  Cal- 
vin had  opposed  this  course,  he  defended-  the  Zurichers  after 
the  step  had  been  taken ;  but  he  was  not  satisfied  with  their 
production,  as  we  find  from  a  letter  of  his  to  Melancthon, 
dated  on  the  28th  of  June,  1545.^  In  this  he  says  :  "  If  the 
matter  be  as  those  of  Zurich  say,  they  had  just  cause  for 
writing ;  but  they  should  have  written  in  a  different  style,  or 
have  held  their  tongues.  For  besides  that  the  whole  book  is 
jejune  and  puerile,  that  in  many  instances  they  defend  their 
Zwingli  rather  pertinaciously  than  learnedly,  and  sometimes 
with  little  modesty,  and  that  they  occasionally  attack  Luther 
undeservedly  ;  so,  also,  in  their  treatment  of  the  principal 
head  they  fail,  in  my  judgment,  in  the  very  statement  of  their 
case.  Yet  you  would  not  believe  how  pleased  they  are  with 
themselves,  as  if  they  had  acquitted  themselves  most  admira- 
bly. Thus  Zurich  breaks  down  at  the  beginning.  But  as 
to  your  Pericles  (Luther),  how  violently  is  he  carried  away  in 
his  thunderings  I  although,  as  his  cause  is  not  a  whit  better, 
what  does  he  gain  by  such  clamor,  except  to  make  all  the 
world  believe  him  mad  ?  For  my  part,  sincerely  as  I  honor 
him,  I  am  ashamed  of  his  conduct.  But  the  worst  is,  that 
not  only  does  no  man  dare  to  oppose  and  chastise  his  inso- 
lence, but  even  to  mutter  a  word.  I  confess  that  we  all  owe 
him  much  ;  nor  should  I  grudge  him  the  chief  authority,  if  he 
did  but  know  how  to  govern  himself;  although  in  church 
affairs  we  should  be  constantly  on  the  watch  as  to  how  far 
we  defer  to  men.  For  all  is  lost  when  any  single  man  has 
more  power  than  all  the  rest ;  especially  if  he  be  inclined  to 
try  how  far  that  power  reaches." 

Luther  did  not  see  this  apology  of  the  Zurich  ministers ; 
but  he  was  highly  incensed  at  the  account  which  he  received 
of  it  from  Jacques  Prevot,  minister  of  the  church  of  Bremen, 
In  a  letter  to  that  clergyman  he  said  :  I  am  very  glad  to  hear 
that  the  Swiss  have  written  against  me  with  such  fury.  It 
was  the  object  of  that  tract  by  which  they  were  all  offended, 
that  they  should  make  known  by  some  public  record  that 
they  were  my  enemies.  I  have  attained  my  end,  and,  as  I 
said,  I  am  glad  of  it.  Were  I  the  most  wretched  of  men,  it 
suffices  me  to  have  that  sole  beatitude  of  the  Psalms,  '  Happy 
the  man  who  hath  not  walked  in  the  counsel  of  the  Sacra- 

1  This  letter,  which  forais  Ep.  63  of  the  Lausanne  ed.,  has  been  published 
in  a  mutilated  form  by  Beza,  apparently  to  avoid  giving  offense  at  Zurich. 
The  additional  sentences  are  supplied  from  a  MS.  by  Hess,  Leben  Bul- 
linsers,  i.,  455. 


160  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

mentaries,  who  hatli  not  trod  in  the  path  of  the  Zwinglians, 
and  hath  not  stood  in  the  pulpit  of  the  Zurichers.'  "  ^ 

The  violence  displayed  by  Luther  in  these  controversies 
does  not  appear  to  have  abated  Calvin's  veneration  for  him. 
On  the  20th  of  January,  1545,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Lu- 
ther— the  only  one  he  ever  wrote  to  him^ — which  expresses 
that  feeling  in  a  high  degree.  The  object  of  it  was  to  obtain 
Luther's  opinion  respecting  the  conduct  which  should  be  ob- 
served by  those  Frenchmen  who  had  adopted  the  reformed 
tenets,  but  were  afraid  to  avow  them  openly.  Two  tracts  of 
Calvin's  on  this  subject,  published  in  the  previous  year,  had 
appeared  somewhat  harsh  ;  and  the  French  Protestants  were 
now  desirous  of  learning  the  sentiments  of  Luther  and  Me- 
lancthon  on  the  same  subject,  in  the  hope  that  they  might 
prove  milder  and  miore  practicable  than  Calvin's.  Calvin, 
however,  was  selected  as  the  medium  of  communication ; 
and  it  appears  that  he  was  requested  to  make  a  journey  into 
Saxony  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  personally  with  Luther 
on  the  subject.  This  he  declined ;  but  he  made  a  Latin 
translation  of  the  tracts  alluded  to — for  the  convenience  of 
Luther,  who  did  not  read  French — and  forwarded  them  to 
him,  together  with  the  letter  in  question,  by  a  trusty  messen- 
ger. This  letter  he  accompanied  with  another  of  the  same 
date  to  Melancthon,''  in  which  he  requested  that  Reformer, 
as  Luther's  mind  was  still  excited  by  his  controversy  with 
the  Swiss,  to  read  the  letter  which  he  had  addressed  to  him, 
and  to  use  it  as  his  discretion  might  suggest.  Calvin  seems 
to  have  suspected  that  Melancthon  might  consider  him  too 
severe  and  precise  in  the  line  of  conduct  which  he  had  pre- 
scribed to  the  French  Protestants."* 

It  appears  from  Melancthon's  reply  ^  that  he  did  not  think 
it  expedient  to  lay  the  matter  before  Luther,  whom  he  repre- 
sents as  growing  suspicious,  and  unwilling  to  have  his  opinions 
on  such  questions  circulated ;  and  mentions  in  modest  terms 
that  he  had  sent  an  answer  of  his  own  to  the  questions  pro- 
posed. This,  together  with  those  of  Bucer  and  Martyr  on 
the  same  subject,  was  afterward  appended  to  the  tracts  in 
question,  and  published  at  Geneva  in  1549. 

1  "Beatus  vir  qui  non  abiit  in  consilio  Sacramentariorara,  et  in  visL 
Z  winglianomm  non  stetit,  et  in  cathedr4  Tigurinorum  non  stetit." — Ruchat, 
V.  274. 

2  It  is  printed  by  Dr.  Henry,  from  a  MS.  at  Zarich.     Th.  ii.,  Beil.  12. 

3  Ep.  60,  Lausanne  ed. 

*  "You  would  perhaps  prefer  that  I  should  somewhat  relax  so  precise  a 
severity." — Ibid.  ^  See  P.  Henry,  ii.,  Beil.  12. 


CALVIN'S  TRACTS  AGAINST  THE  NICODEMITES.     161 

The  tracts  were  the  "  Traite  de  fuir  les  Superstitions" 
and  the  "  Excuse  de  Jehan  Calvin  a  Messieurs  les  Nicode- 
7nites''  The  former  of  these,  as  already  mentioned,  was  an 
exhortation  to  a  class  of  Frenchmen,  then  sufficiently  numer- 
ous, who,  though  converts  to  the  Reformation,  attended  mass, 
and  outwardly  complied  with  the  Roman  Catholic  rites. 
These  Calvin  advises  to  leave  their  country,  and  betake 
themselves  to  some  place  where  they  might  enjoy  their  relig- 
ious opinions  in  security.  If  they  were  prevented  from  so 
doing  by  any  unavoidable  circumstances,  then  he  recommends 
them  to  absent  themselves  from  the  public  churches  ;  to  wor- 
ship God  at  home,  and  to  endeavor  to  make  as  many  converts 
as  possible  to  the  true  doctrine.  This,  he  acknowledges,  could 
not  be  done,  without  incurring  the  risk  of  death ;  but  at  the 
same  time  represents  that  the  glory  of  God  is  concerned,  which 
ought  to  be  much  dearer  to  us  than  this  transitory  and  un- 
stable life,  which  is  nothing  but  a  shadow. 

The  lofty  precepts  of  self-devotion  here  inculcated  appear- 
ed, as  we  might  expect,  too  harsh  and  severe  to  the  great 
mass  of  persons  to  whom  they  were  addressed  ;  who  excused 
their  conduct  by  the  example  of  Nicodemus,  the  Jewish 
Rabbi,  who  came  secretly  to  Christ.  Hence  Calvin  gave 
them  the  name  of  Nicodemites ;  and  again  addressed  them 
in  a  style  still  more  severe  in  the  second  of  the  tracts  before 
mentioned. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  he  compares  them  to  scavengers, 
who  by  long  use  become  so  accustomed  to  bad  odors,  that 
they  lose  all  sense  of  smell ;  and  their  excuses  he  likens  to 
the  garlic,  onions,  and  other  strong  food,  with  which  such 
men  seek  to  fortify  their  nostrils.  He  then  describes  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  Nicodemites.  First,  false  preachers  of  the 
gospel,  who,  seeing  that  the  world  is  tired  of  the  mummeries 
of  Popery,  adopt  some  of  the  Reformed  tenets,  their  only  ob- 
ject being  to  fill  their  own  pockets.  This  trait  was  probably 
directed  against  Gerard  Le  Roux  (or  Roussel),^  for  whom 

1  "  Get  ecrivain  (Sponde)  reconnait  que  G-.  Roussel  menait  une  vie  irre- 
prochable,  prechait  souvent,  nourissait  des  bataillons  de  pauvres,  et  in- 
struisait  des  troupes  de  petits  enfants  ;  mais  il  n'en  etait  que  plus  danger- 
eux.  II  etait  parfaitement  Catholique  a  I'exterieur,  semper  se  CathoUcum 
exterius  projitebatur ;  il  reniait  hautement  Luther  et  Calvin  ;  ce  dernier 
composa  meme  un  livre  contre  G.  Roussel,  sous  ce  titre,  Adversus  Nicode- 
mitas  ;  mais  Sponde  n'en  est  pas  la  dupe,  et  sa  penetration  decouvre  facile- 
ment  sous  ce  jeu  concerte  I'liypocrisie  heretique. 

"  Gr.  Roussel  avait  le  tort  de  precher  a  la  cour  de  Nerac  en  habit  de  laic  ; 
on  dit  aussi  qu'il  donuait  la  communion  sous  les  deux  especes." — Genin, 
Lettres  de  Marguerite  d' Angouleme,  vol.  i ,  p.  267,  note. 


162  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Margaret  of  Navarre  had  procured  the  bishopric  of  Oleron. 
"The  second  kind  of  Nicodemites  are  your  luxurious  prothon- 
otaries  who  do  not  disHke  to  have  a  gospel,  and  to  joke  and 
tattle  about  it  with  young  ladies  :  only  let  it  not  prevent 
them  from  living  as  they  wish.  In  the  same  rank  may  be 
placed  your  delicate  courtiers  and  fine  ladies,  who  have  been 
accustomed  to  nothing  but  flattery,  and  never  hear  a  rough 
word.  I  am  not  surprised  that  these  should  conspire  against 
me,  and  with  one  accord  condemn  me  of  immoderate  auster- 
ity. I  long  foresaw  this,  and  fancy  I  hear  them  saying  to 
one  another :  '  Away  with  this  Calvin  !  he  is  too  unpolite. 
If  we  would  hear  him,  he  would  not  only  reduce  us  to  beg- 
gary, but  lead  us  direct  to  the  stake.  Ought  we  to  be  com- 
pelled to  such  precision  ?  If  he  wishes  all  to  be  like  himself, 
and  envies  us  our  repose,  what  is  that  to  us  ?  We  are  well 
enough  here  ;  let  him  content  himself  vdth  his  own  lot,  and 
leave  us  in  peace.'  "  ^ 

From  these  two  sketches  it  appears  that  a  tincture  of  evan- 
gelism w^as  a  fashion  in  the  heau  monde.  The  third  class  of 
Nicodemites  is  described  as  consisting  of  literary  men,  who 
look  upon  religion  merely  as  a  thing  for  the  multitude  ;  refrain 
from  taking  any  active  part,  as  supererogatory ;  and  laugh 
at  those  who  are  serious  in  the  matter.  Another  class  con- 
sists of  merchants  and  plebeians,  who  do  not  care  to  be  in- 
terrupted in  their  avocations  by  any  such  thoughts.  In 
short,  there  was  hardly  an  order  of  men  that  had  not  its 
Nicodemites. 

In  one  part  Calvin  rallies  them  with  some  wit,  on  their 
pleading  the  example  of  Nicodemus.  "  Perhaps  w^e  may  al- 
low," says  he,  "that  in  one  thing  they  resemble  him — they 
bury  Christ.  The  two  interments,  however,  are  very  differ- 
ent. Nicodemus  buried  only  his  body,  after  anointing  it  with 
precious  aromatics  ;  they  bury  both  his  body  and  soul,  both 
his  divinity  and  humanity,  and  that  too  without  honor.  Nico- 
demus interred  him  when  dead  ;  but  they  thrust  him  into  the 
earth  after  he  hath  arisen.  Let  them  cease  then  to  make 
Nicodemus  their  shield,  and  to  persuade  themselves  that  they 
may  dissemble  their  faith  even  to  the  simulation  of  idolatry  ; 
for  Nicodemus  displayed  a  hundred  times  more  fortitude  in 
the  death  of  Christ  than  all  of  them  together  after  his  res- 
urrection."^ 

Calvin's  zeal  in  exhorting  them,  when  himself  at  a  safe 

^  Calvin,  Opera,  viii.,  445,  B ,,  Amst.  ed. 
2  Ihid.  p.  448,  B. 


aiS  REPLY  TO  AN  INVITATION  TO  SAXONY.  1G3 

distance,  could  not  fail  to  strike  the  objects  of  his  admonitions. 
"If  he  makes  such  strenuous  professions,"  said  they,  "  why 
does  he  not  come  hither,  and  show  us  how  to  behave  ?  He 
resembles  the  leaders  of  armies,  who  incite  the  common  sol- 
diers to  the  attack,  while  they  themselves  stand  out  of  harm's 
reach."  To  this  Calvin  replies  by  putting  himself  on  a  par 
with  the  Apostles,  who  exhorted  their  followers  to  bear  with 
constancy  the  loss  of  their  fortunes,  and  even  death  itself 
"  Somebody,"  he  exclaims,  "  may  object  that  the  Apostles  did 
not  escape  persecution ;  and  that  they  were  thereby  entitled 
to  require  others  to  suffer  what  they  actually  underwent  them- 
selves. *I  answer  that  the  Apostles  used  frequently  to  exhort 
to  patience  and  fortitude  those  churches  which  they  had  them- 
selves deserted  for  fear  of  danger."^  Such  an  answer  savors 
more  of  spiritual  pride  than  of  the  courage  of  a  martyr.  It 
should  be  stated,  however,  that  Calvin  is  profuse  enough  of 
his  assertions  that  he  should  be  ready  to  sacrifice  even  life 
itself  for  the  glory  of  God. 

As  the  letter  which  Calvin  wrote  in  reply  to  the  applica- 
tion which  had  been  made  to  him  to  undertake  a  journey  into 
Saxony,  for  the  purpose  of  consulting  Luther  and  Melancthon 
on  this  subject,  affords  some  glimpses  of  his  situation  at  this 
time,  especially  with  regard  to  pecuniary  matters,  we  shall 
insert  some  portion  of  it  here.^  In  it  he  says  :  "  I  have  hesi- 
tated for  some  time  whether  I  should  accede  to  the  request 
contained  in  your  last  letter.  The  journey  is  a  long  and  diffi- 
cult one.  A  mounted  courier  can  not  accomplish  it  under 
twenty  days ;  and  it  would  be  dangerous  to  send  any  person 
indiscriminately.  I  can  not  trust  carriers  or  couriers,  and  few 
else  are  to  be  found.  The  journey  would  be  an  exceedingly 
difficult  one  for  a  person  ignorant  of  the  language ;  and  the 
expenses  every  where  exorbitant,  on  account  of  the  bad  har- 
vest. I  am,  too,  by  no  means  well  supplied  with  money. 
Even  in  favorable  seasons  my  income  barely  suffices  to  meet 
the  charges  I  am  at ;  and  from  the  scarcity  with  which  we 
have  had  to  struggle  during  the  last  two  years,  I  have  been 
compelled  to  get  into  debt.  I  do  not  say  this,  however,  by 
way  of  complaint ;  for,  through  the  mercy  of  God,  I  have 
as  much  as  contents  me  :  but  I  would  have  you  understand 
that  I  can  not  easily  find  persons  here  from  whom  to  borrow. 
They  are  all  merchants,  and  moreover,  needy  ones.     The  sea- 

1  Calvin,  Opera,  viii.,  448,  A.     Amst.  ed. 

2  It  is  published  in  Beza's  collection,  without  date,  or  name  of  the  parly 
addressed  (Ep.  392,  Lausanne  ed.) 


164  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

son,  too,  as  I  have  said,  is  unfavorable  for  consulting  Luther, 
since  he  has  hardly  had  time  to  cool  from  the  heat  of  contro- 
versy. But  as  you  pressed  the  matter  so  strongly,  I  made  it 
my  chief  care  to  comply  with  your  request,  and  have  per- 
suaded a  young  gentleman  of  tolerable  learning  to  undertake 
this  trouble  for  my  sake.  I  have  translated  my  books  liter- 
ally into  Latin,  and  sent  them  with  my  letters,  that  they  may 
form  their  opinion  of  them.  All  I  ask  of  them  is  to  tell  me 
freely  and  candidly  what  they  think  ;  only  I  added  that  I 
should  not  be  pleased  if  they  suffered  any  considerations  for 
myself  to  have  any  weight.  My  messenger  will  hardly  return 
before  two  months  are  expired.  The  journey  will  take  forty 
days ;  and  I  allow  four  days  for  baiting,  and  the  rest  of  the 
time  for  consultation." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Another  Pestilence — Conspiracy  to  spread  the  Plague — Persecution  of  the 
Waldenses — The  Libertines,  or  Patriots — Number  and  Privileges  of  the 
Refugees — Case  of  Pierre  Ameaux — Calvin's  Despotism — Priestcraft — 
Struggles  with  the  Libertines — Ami  Pen-in— Calvin  menaced — Affair  of 
G-ruet — Perrin  imprisoned — Disturbances — Perrin  disgraced — Attempts 
at  Accommodation — Calvin  embi-oiled  w^ith  the  Council — Perrin  restored 
and  elected  Syndic. 

In  1545  Geneva  again  experienced  a  severe  visitation  of 
the  plague,  whither  it  had  been  brought  by  some  Swiss  sol- 
diers in  the  service  of  France,  who  were  passing  into  Italy. ^ 
Its  horrors  were  enhanced  by  a  diabolical  conspiracy,  formed 
with  the  purpose  of  spreading  the  disorder  by  artificial  means, 
in  order  to  profit  by  the  spoils  of  the  dead.  A  suspicion  of 
such  conspiracies  has  frequently  accompanied  similar  visita- 
tions. The  minds  of  men,  terrified  and  prostrated  by  the  rav- 
ages of  a  disorder  whose  source  is  inscrutable,  were  disposed 
to  assign  them  to  some  visible  agent.  Already,  during  the 
former  visitation  in  1543,  plots  of  this  kind  had  been  suspect- 
ed ;  and  individuals  had  been  subjected  to  torture  in  order  to 
extort  a  confession,  but  without  effect.^  That  such  a  conspir- 
acy really  existed  on  the  present  occasion  can  not,  however, 
be  doubted  ;  even  some  of  the  overseers  and  other  persons  con- 
nected with  the  Lazaretto  were  implicated  in  it.  A  man 
named  Lentille,  who  had  been  servant  to  a  former  master  of 
the  hospital,  and  who,  according  to  Spon,  only  practiced  what 
he  had  learned  from  him,  began  to  spread  the  plague  by 
means  of  linen  which  had  touched  the  bodies  of  those  who 
had  died  of  the  disorder  :  for  which  purpose  he  had  gained 
over  the  greater  part  of  the  women  who  cleaned  and  per- 
fumed the  furniture  of  the  dead.  The  conspirators  engaged 
in  this  plot  bound  themselves  by  horrible  oaths  to  poison  all 
whom  the  disorder  spared  in  its  natural  course.  Among  the 
women  who  were  privy  to  it,  the  disease  went  by  the  familiar 

1  Spon,  ii.,  42. 

^  "J.  Goulaz  accuse  d'avoir  seme  lapeste  a  endure  sept  estrapades  et  le 
tourment  des  Bujegnins  sans  rien  avouer;  on  le  gardera  encore  en  prison, 
puis  Ton  avisera." — Rigistres,  27  Avril,  1543.  "L'on  soupgonne  que  de 
nuit  il  y  a  des  empoisonneurs  qui  sement  la  peste  par  la  ville.  Ordonne 
d'en  parler  a  M.  Henri  portier  de  la  Tartasse." — Rigistres,  8  Juin,  1543. 
P.  Henry,  ii.,  414. 


166  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

name  of  "  Clauda."  Their  usual  greeting  was,  "  How  goes 
Clauda  ?"  The  answer  was  either,  "  She  is  quite  asleep,"  or 
if  some  fresh  house  had  been  attacked,  "  She  goes  finely  ;  she 
fares  well  in  such  and  such  a  place."  Without  inquiring 
whether  or  not  it  was  owing  to  the  means  adopted  by  the 
conspirators,  it  is  certain  that  the  ravages  were  frightful, 
(xeneva  was  decimated  :  two  thousand  died  out  of  a  popula- 
tion of  twenty  thousand. 

The  belief  in  a  conspiracy  was  not  confined  to  the  mere 
populace,  but  was  partaken  by  the  higher  classes,  and  even 
by  Calvin  himself.  In  a  letter  to  Myconius,  March  27th, 
1545,^  Calvin  says:  "The  Lord  tries  us  wonderfully.  A 
little  while  ago  a  conspiracy  of  men  and  women  was  discov- 
ered, who,  for  these  last  three  years,  have  been  spreading  the 
pest  in  the  city  by  I  know  not  what  incantations.  Fifteen 
women  have  been  burned  already  ;  and  some  men,  after  being 
fearfully  tortured,  have  made  away  with  themselves  in  prison. 
Twenty-five  still  remain  prisoners ;  and  yet  the  conspirators 
continue  every  day  to  smear  the  locks  of  the  houses  with  their 
ointment.  Such  are  the  dangers  which  surround  us ;  but 
God  hath  as  yet  preserved  our  house  unhurt,  though  it  hath 
been  several  times  attempted."  And  in  another  letter  to 
Farel  on  the  25th  of  April,^  he  says  :  "  What  should  I  tell 
you  about  the  poisonings  ?  You  have  Weber  with  you,  who 
can  tell  you  the  whole  story  more  plainly  than  I  can  in  a  let- 
ter. The  simplicity  shown  by  Renat  from  the  beginning  has 
puzzled  us  a  good  deal.  It  is  strange  that  he  who  was  so 
steadfast  under  torture  should  have  been  overcome  by  a  mere 
promise,  on  hearing  that  I  had  procured  his  pardon  from  the 
council.  His  wife  confessed  that  she  had  killed  eighteen  men 
by  her  infernal  arts,  and  he  four  or  five."  Altogether,  seven 
men  and  twenty-one  women  were  burned  alive  for  this  offense. 
The  husbands  of  three  women  were  banished.  Jean  Lentille 
died  of  the  consequences  of  his  torture  ;  and  the  physician  of 
the  Lazaretto  and  two  assistants  were  quartered. 

Nevertheless  this  singular  crime  continued  to  flourish  at 
Geneva ;  which  obtained  such  a  reputation  for  it,  that,  in 
1565,  the  year  after  Calvin's  death,  a  simple  countryman 
came  thither  to  purchase  the  far-famed  ointment  from  the 
seigneurs,  or  council,  themselves  I  He  wanted,  he  said,  to  be 
revenged  on  the  people  of  the  Duke  of  Nemours,  who  had 
stolen  his  daughter ;  and  she  had  told  him  that  she  was  sure 

^  p.  Henry,  ii.,  416,  from  a  Geneva  MS. 
^  P.  Henry,  1.  c,  from  a  Geneva  MS. 


PERSECUTION  OF  THE  WALDENSES.  167 

the  council  would  let  him  have  the  poison  if  he  asked  for  it 
secretly.  The  poor  old  man  being  brought  before  the  syndics 
added  much  more  that  plainly  showed  he  was  crazy.  Never- 
theless, CoUadon,  who  had  been  Calvin's  assistant  in  his  legal 
reforms,  declared  for  the  torture /or^e  etferme.  The  unlucky 
purchaser  was  indicted  under  three  heads  :  poisoning,  calum- 
niating the  Genevese  council,  and  being  in  league  with  the 
devil ;  and  was  burned  on  the  Molard  in  pursuance  of  his 
sentence/ 

Calvin's  apprehensions  that  a  persecution  was  hanging  over 
the  Waldenses  were  now  on  the  point  of  being  verified.  Ex- 
cited by  the  progress  of  Luther's  Reformation,  the  Waldenses 
had  taken  heart,  and  begun  to  show  themselves  more  openly  ; 
and  had  even  engaged  some  German  doctors  to  be  their  min- 
isters. In  1530  they  had  sent  two  of  their  pastors  to  CEco- 
lampadius  at  Basle,  to  Bucer  and  Capito  at  Strasburgh,  and 
to  Berthold  Haller  at  Berne,  to  submit  their  doctrines  to  them 
for  approval  or  correction.^  It  is  curious  to  find  these  simple 
men,  who  held  their  faith  by  tradition,  thus  consulting  those 
who  had  adopted  nearly  the  same  tenets  by  dint  of  study  and 
learning.  What  most  perplexed  them  was  Luther's  doctrine 
of  predestination  ;  for  they  themselves  held,  like  Erasmus,  for 
free  will.  CEcolampadius  very  sensibly  advised  them  to  leave 
this  controversy  alone.  He  also  gave  them  a  letter  of"  recom- 
mendation to  Bucer ;  from  which,  however,  it  would  appear 
that  he  considered  them  rather  tedious ;  for  he  advises  him, 
if  he  did  not  wish  to  lose  his  time  in  a  great  many  conversa- 
tions, to  cut  the  matter  short  by  approving  what  he  (CEcolam- 
padius) had  already  written.^  Their,  movements  at  length 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  authorities,  and  they  were  cited 
to  appear  before  the  parhament  of  Aix  ;  but  not  answering  on 
the  third  citation,  Bartholomew  Cassane,  the  president  of  the 
parliament  had,  in  November,  1540,  passed  the  following 
atrocious  sentence  upon  them :  That  the  heads  of  famiUes 
should  be  burned,  and  their  wives,  children,  and  property 
confiscated  ;  that  Merindol,  their  chief  town,  should  be  razed  ; 
their  gardens,  woods,  and  plantations  be  destroyed,  and  the 
caves  in  which  they  took  refuge  be  blocked  up.  It  was 
thought  advisable,  however,  to  suspend  the  execution  of  thi« 
sentence  till  the  king's  wishes  should  be  ascertained  ;  though 

1  P.  Henry,  ii.,  418. 

2  Their  address  to  CEcolaQipadius,  explaining  their  creed,  discipline,  and 
rites,  will  be  found  in  Gerdesius,  ii.,  402,  and  in  an  abridged foi*m  in  Ruchat, 
ii.,  320.  3  Gerdesius,  ii.,  418. 


168  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

many  were  for  carrying  it  out  immediately.  The  king  com- 
missioned Guillanme  Bellay  de  Lange,  governor  of  Piedmont, 
to  inquire  into  the  matter,  who  reported  as  follows  :  That  the 
Waldenses  were  said  to  have  received  from  their  lords,  about 
three  centuries  before,  their  then  sterile  and  uncultivated  ter- 
ritory, which,  by  assiduous  labor  and  cultivation,  they  had 
rendered  fruitful  and  fit  for  cattle  ;  that  they  did  much  work 
on  a  slender  diet ;  were  charitable,  and  abhorred  contention  ; 
that  they  paid  their  rent  and  taxes  punctually  ;  that  they  tes- 
tified their  religion  by  constant  prayer  and  by  the  innocence 
of  their  lives,  yet  seldom  entered  a  church  except  when  busi- 
ness called  them  to  the  neighboring  cities  ;  that  on  such  oc- 
casions they  did  not  kneel  before  the  statues  of  the  saints,  nor 
make  them  any  offerings  ;  that  they  did  not  employ  the  priests 
to  say  mass  for  the  souls  of  their  relatives,  nor  cross  them- 
selves, nor  sprinkle  holy  water  when  it  thundered,  but  turning 
their  eyes  to  heaven,  implored  the  help  of  God  ;  that  they  did 
not  uncover  before  the  crucifixes  in  the  streets  ;  that  in  their 
religious  service,  which  was  performed  in  the  vernacular 
tongue,  they  did  not  use  the  accustomed  rites ;  that  they  paid 
no  honor  to  the  Pope  or  bishops,  but  chose  some  of  their  own 
body  for  their  doctors  and  preachers. 

In  February,  1541,  Francis  sent  a  diploma  to  the  parlia- 
ment of  Aix,  granting  a  pardon  to  the  Waldenses  for  the  past, 
but  requiring  them  to  recant  within  three  months,  under  pain 
of  the  customary  punishment.  Hereupon  they  demanded  a 
disputation ;  and  Cassane  obtained  from  them  a  confession  of 
their  faith,  to  be  laid  before  the  king.  They  also  presented  a 
copy  of  this  confession  to  Sadolet,  Bishop  of  Carpentras  ;  who 
received  those  who  brought  it  with  his  usual  benevolence,  but 
pointed  out  some  passages  in  their  creed  which  he  thought 
might  be  amended.^ 

So  long  as  Cassane  lived  the  sentence  pronounced  on  the 
Waldenses  by  the  parliament  of  Aix  was  not  carried  into  exe- 
cution, though  they  still  adhered  rigidly  to  their  confession. 
After  his  death  the  bloody  scenes  which  Calvin  had  antici- 
pated were  hastened  on  by  the  machinations  of  private  re- 
venge. Among  their  other  good  qualities  the  Waldenses  were 
remarkable  for  their  industry  ;  and  the  Countess  of  Cental,  a 
rich  and  handsome  widow  of  Provence,  had  found  her  reve- 
nues much  increased  by  getting  a  considerable  number  of  them 
to  settle  upon  her  estate.  Jean  Meynier,  Baron  d'Oppede, 
who,  after  the  death  of  Cassane,  united  the  office  of  chief 

1  Gerdesius,  iv.,  130,  where  their  confession  will  be  found,  Men.  15. 


PERSECUTION  OF  THE  WALDENSES.  J(.:» 

president  of  the  parliament  of  Aix  with  that  of  military  gov- 
ernor of  Provence,  had  been  a  suitor  for  the  hand  of  the  count- 
ess ;  and  the  mortification  of  a  repulse  had  goaded  him  on  to 
form  one  of  the  most  diabolical  schemes  of  revenge  that  ever 
entered  a  human  brain.  He  determined  on  depriving  the 
countess  of  her  laborers,  by  a  general  massacre  of  these  harm- 
less rehgionists  ;  and  with  a  view  to  effect  this  object,  he  rep- 
resented to  the  French  court  that  the  Waldenses  had  a  plot 
to  seize  upon  Lyons,  and  to  form  themselves  into  republican 
cantons  after  the  model  of  the  Swiss  :  though  nothing  could 
be  further  from  the  intentions  of  that  people,  who,  of  all  re- 
ligious sects,  were  the  least  disposed  to  political  innovations. 
D'Oppede  was  seconded  in  his  designs  by  Cardinal  Tournon, 
a  bigoted  and  blood-thirsty  prelate,  whom  we  shall  again  meet 
with  in  the  course  of  this  narrative  ;  and  whose  natural  cru- 
elty was  moreover  stimulated  by  pressing  remonstrances  from 
Rome  against  the  impunity  enjoyed  by  these  heretics.  D'Op- 
pede also  got  his  representations  backed  by  several  other  fanat- 
ical magistrates.  Francis,  however,  still  remained  undecided ; 
and  D'Oppede  availed  himself  of  this  hesitation  to  use  the 
means  which  his  military  command  placed  at  his  disposal.  A 
levy  of  men  raised  in  Provence  against  the  enemies  of  France 
was  employed  against  the  helpless  Waldenses.  On  the  28th 
of  April,  1545,  a  horrible  butchery  took  place.  The  towns 
of  Merindol  and  Cabrieres,  together  with  twenty-eight  villages, 
were  destroyed  ;  the  orchards  and  houses  were  burned,  the 
women  outraged,  the  men  massacred.  In  one  church  alone 
800  persons  are  said  to  have  been  slaughtered ;  and  the  total 
number  of  the  slain  was  estimated  at  4000.  Madame  de 
Cental  demanded  justice  for  the  losses  she  had  suffered.  It 
is  said  that  when  Francis  heard  of  these  proceedings  he  was 
highly  offended,  and  seemed  at  first  inclined  to  punish  D'Op- 
pede ;  that  when  that  nobleman  went  to  court  the  king  re- 
fused to  see  him  ;  and  that  he  escaped  only  through  the  inter- 
cession of  Cardinal  Tournon,  who  represented  to  the  king  that 
any  proceedings  against  him  or  the  parliament  of  Aix,  would 
have  the  effect  of  giving  fresh  vigor  to  heresy.  Some  author- 
ities, however,  state  that  Francis  approved  of  what  had  been 
done  ;^  and  it  is  certain,  at  all  events,  that  this  horrible  mas- 
sacre went  unpunished.  It  is  said,  indeed,  that  Francis,  on 
his  death-bed,  recommended  to  his  successor  to  avenge  this 
innocent  blood  ;  and  on  the  accession  of  Henry  II.,  a  suit  was 
actually  instituted  against  D'Oppede  and  his  accomplices.     It 

I  See  Maimbourg,  p.  90,  who  quotes  Thuanus. 

H 


170  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

was,  however,  feebly  prosecuted ;  and  after  five  hearings,  all 
the  accused  were  acquitted,  with  the  exception  of  Guerin,  the 
avocat-general,  and  one  of  the  principal  actors  in  this  horrible 
affair :  though  he  was  executed,  not  as  an  assassin,  but  as  a 
forger.^ 

Great  numbers  of  the  Waldenses  sought  safety  in  flight. 
Sadolet,  much  to  his  honor,  received  with  kindness  such  as 
fled  to  Carpentras,  and  interceded  for  them  with  the  king. 
Four  thousand  directed  their  steps  toward  Geneva,  which 
offered  the  best  place  of  refuge.  Calvin  exerted  himself  to 
find  them  lodging  and  employment,  set  on  foot  a  subscription 
which  yielded  seventy  florins,  and  got  the  council  to  employ 
them  in  repairing  the  fortifications.  He  saw  that  this  blow 
would  prove  a  great  hinderance  and  discouragement  to  the 
Protestant  cause  in  France,  and  therefore  used  every  endeavor 
to  get  the  Swiss  cantons  to  intercede  with  Francis  in  favor  of 
the  remnants  of  the  Waldenses.  With  this  view  he  traveled 
to  Zurich  and  Berne  to  consult  the  ministers  of  those  cities ; 
and  hearing  that  the  cantons  were  to  have  a  conference  at 
Aran  on  the  21st  of  May,  he  went  thither,  and  addressed  a 
pressing  speech  to  the  meeting.  The  cantons  actually  wrote 
to  the  King  of  France  in  the  strongest  terms,  but  without 
effect.  He  answered  dryly  that  he  did  not  trouble  himself 
concerning  their  government,  and  that  they  need  not,  there- 
fore, inquire  about  his.  It  is  said  that  Calvin  had  formed  the 
design  of  going  to  Paris  to  sohcit  the  king  in  person  :  but  un- 
luckily he  fell  ill  just  at  the  time  when  he  should  have  set 
off;  and  Farel  suddenly  found  himself  too  old  to  undertake 
such  a  journey.  Both  he  and  Calvin  were  French  subjects, 
and  a  journey  to  Paris  might  have  been  attended  with  un- 
pleasant consequences  to  them.  This  objection  did  not  apply 
to  Viret,  a  native  of  Switzerland  ;  who  accordingly  visited  the 
French  court  with  letters  of  recommendation,  not  only  from 
the  Reformed  cantons,  but  also  from  the  states  belonging  to 
the  Smalcaldic  league.^  His  mission  does  not  seem,  however, 
to  have  produced  any  fruits. 

During  the  first  four  or  five  years  which  followed  Calvin's  re- 
turn to  Geneva,  he  experienced  little  opposition  in  consolidating 
his  power,  and  establishing  his  favorite  scheme  of  ecclesiastical 
government ;  but  about  this  time  a  party  began  to  be  formed, 
which,  for  the  next  eight  or  nine  years,  occasioned  him  consid- 
erable trouble.     This  party  assumed  the  name  o^ Patriots ;  but 

1  Lacratelle,  Gucrres  de  Religion,  i.,  28,  et.  seq. 

2  Ruchat,  v.,  253.     P.  Henry,  ii.,  331. 


i^ 


TffE  LIBERTINES,  OR  PATRIOTS.  171 

as  a  nick-name  often  serves  to  throw  discredit  on  a  cause,  their 
adversaries  gave  them  the  appellation  of  Libertines,  with  a 
view  to  identify  them  with  the  fanatical  sect  of  that  denomina- 
tion, whose  tenets  have  already  been  described.  Of  the  latter, 
some  were  doubtless  to  be  found  among  the  Patriots.  As  op- 
posed to  Calvin  and  his  doctrines,  they  would  naturally  attach 
themselves  to  a  party  which  sought  his  overthrow ;  whose  ranks 
were  also  swelled  by  the  dissolute  and  discontented  with  whom 
all  cities  abound,  and  who  follow  the  leaders  of  popular  move- 
ments in  the  hope  of  reaping  advantage  from  the  tumult  and 
anarchy  which  usually  accompany  such  struggles.  The  basis 
of  the  party,  no  doubt,  consisted  of  those  who  had  formerly  been 
the  means  of  procuring  Calvin's  banishmeni?;  but  at  the  head 
of  it  were  now  many  members  of  the  old  Genevese  families  : 
men  not  naturally  indisposed  toward  him  or  the  Reformation, 
but  who  beheld  with  regret  and  alarm  their  amusements  inter- 
fered with,  their  power  and  privileges  curtailed,  the  constitution 
of  their  country  subverted,  and  the  principal  share  in  its  govern- 
ment transferred  to  the  hands  of  refugees  and  aliens.  Their 
chief  leader  was  Ami  Perrin,  upon  whose  moral  character  no 
serious  imputation  rests,  though  some  members  of  his  family 
were  unfortunate  enough  to  incur  the  censures  of  the  consist- 
ory. Perrin  himself  had,  as  we  have  seen,  not  only  been  a 
zealous  promoter  of  the  Reformation  at  Geneva,  but  had  taken 
an  active  part  in  procuring  Calvin's  recall. 

In  their  religious  views,  Perrin,  and  others  of  his  stamp, 
had  probably  been  much  influenced  by  a  love  of  civil  liberty  : 
for  the  Reformation  had  helped  to  free  Geneva  from  the 
threatened  yoke  of  Savoy,  and  from  the  traitorous  designs  of 
its  own  bishops.  In  recalling  Calvin  these  men  had  been 
partly  led  by  the  desire  of  finding  a  counterpoise  to  the  pre- 
tensions of  Berne,  whose  influence  at  Geneva  seemed  to  be 
growing  to  too  great  a  height  :  but  now  they  felt  a  more  op- 
pressive power  springing  up  in  the  heart  of  the  state  itself, 
out  of  those  very  institutions  which  they  had  adopted  for  the 
sake  of  freedom.  The  great  increase,  too,  continually  taking 
place  in  the  number  of  refugees,  was  calculated  to  excite 
alarm  and  suspicion.  A  few  details  will  show  the  extent  to 
which  immigration  was  carried  on  after  Calvin's  return.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  century  Geneva  numbered  12,000  souls  ;' 
and  up  to  the  year  1543,  that  is,  in  nearly  half  a  century,  the 
population  had  increased  only  to  13,000  But  in  1550, 
Geneva  contained  20,000  inhabitants ;  thus  showing  an  in- 

1   Picot,  quoted  by  P.  Henry,  i.,  144. 


172  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

crease  of  more  than  one-half  in  seven  years,  or  at  the  rate  of 
about  1000  each  year,  the  sum  of  the  whole  increase  in  the 
preceding  forty- three  years.  At  the  last-named  period,  there- 
fore, the  refugees  must  have  formed  about  one-third  of  the 
whole  population :  a  very  large  proportion,  especially  when 
Ave  consider  that  most  of  them  were  males  ;  that  many  of  them 
were  persons  of  some  education  and  fortune,  whose  knowledge 
led,  and  whose  means  enabled  them  to  indulge  their  con- 
sciences by  quitting  their  native  country  ;  and  whose  influ- 
ence, therefore,  must  not  be  estimated  solely  from  their 
numbers.  The  greater  part  of  them  were  Frenchmen,  though 
some  few  tliere  were  from  Italy,  the  Netherlands,  and  Spain. 
They  were,  too,  especial  favorites  with  Calvin  and  the  con- 
sistory. He  not  only  procured  as  many  as  he  could  to  be 
admitted  to  the  rights  of  citizenship,  in  order  that  they  might 
be  useful  to  him  in  the  more  popular  assemblies,  but  even  con- 
trived to  get  some  of  them  elected  into  the  ordinary  council. 
The  sacrifices  they  had  made  in  leaving  their  country  were 
magnified  into  a  sort  of  confessorship  ;  and  it  appears  from 
the  Registers,  that  an  insult  to  a  refugee  was  put  on  the 
.same  footing  with  one  offered  to  a  minister,  and  construed 
into  a  blasphemy  toward  God.^ 

The  favor  and  privileges  which  these  refugees  obtained 
were  naturally  regarded  with  a  jealous  eye  by  the  native 
Genevese,  who  opposed  their  admission  to  the  right  of  citizen- 
ship, and  their  being  allowed  to  carry  arms.  The  power, 
tod,  assumed  by  the  consistory,  and  especially  the  right  of 
excommunication,  exercised,  as  it  frequently  was,  in  cases 
which  might  at  least  be  regarded  as  venial,  began  to  excite 
great  discontent.  It  was  becoming  a  kind  of  little  Popedom, 
the  more  intolerable  as  its  pretensions  were  more  minute  and 
exacting,  and  more  easily  enforced.  In  his  struggles  with 
his  opponents  during  this  period,  Calvin  compares  himself 
with  David  contending  with  the  Philistines.*  With  such 
sentiments  it  was  not  likely  that  he  should  be  content  with 

^  One  Louis  B.,  in  going  out  of  church,  had  said  to  a  refugee  :  "  A^  tous 
les  diables  soyent  tant  de  predicans,  et  malgre  Dieu  tant  de  Frangais,  et 
qu'ils  ne  se  trouvent  en  leur  pais.  Apres  qu'ils  ont  mange  leur  Dieu,  ils 
nous  vienuent  iqi  controler."  He  also  struck  him  in  the  face,  and  drew 
blood.  But  on  his  trial  no  mention  is  made  of  the  blows,  but  only  of  the 
words,  which  are  said  to  be  contre  Vhonneur  de  Dieu  (P.  Henry,  ii.,  422, 
note). 

2  "  For  as  not  only  the  Philistines  and  other  external  enemies  molested 
that  righteous  king  with  continual  wars,  but  the  malice  and  wickedness  of 
perfidious  enemies  at  home  still  more  deeply  wounded  him ;  so  I,  attacked 
on  all  sides,  have  scarcely  had  a  moment  iVee  from  contention  either  at 
home  or  abroad.  " — Preface  to  the  Psalms. 


CASE  OF  PIERRE  AMEAUX.  173 

email. submissions.  He  sought  to  make  the  power  of  the  con- 
sistory absolute  in  spiritual  matters;  while  the  patriots  de- 
manded that  moral  and  religious  delinquents  should  not  be 
cited  before  that  body,  but  before  the  council. 

A  remarkable  instance  of  the  manner  in  which  Calvin 
maintained  his  personal  authority  occurred  in  the  year  1546, 
in  the  case  of  Pierre  Ameaux,  a  member  of  the  council  of 
Two  Hundred.  The  wife  of  Ameaux  belonged  to  the  spiritual 
Libertines ;  and  such  was  the  liberality  of  her  principles  that, 
interpreting  the  doctrine  of  the  communion  of  saints  to  mean 
that  we  should  have  all  things  in  common,  she  not  only  in- 
cluded houses  and  lands  in  the  precept,  but  even  her  own 
person.^  Her  husband,  however,  was  so  far  from  partaking 
in  these  sentiments,  that  he  sought  and  obtained  a  divorce 
from  his  wife,  who  was  condemned  to  perpetual  imprison- 
ment. But,  though  averse  to  the  principles  of  the  Libertines, 
Ameaux  was  no  friend  of  Calvin's.  After  a  supper  given  at 
his  own  house,  at  which  a  good  many  persons  were  present, 
including  Henri  de  la  Mar  and  Aime  Maigret,  two  of  the 
ministers  of  Geneva,  Ameaux,  who  had  drunk  rather  freely, 
was  imprudent  enough  to  decla/e  that  Calvin  preached  a 
false  doctrine,  was  a  very  bad  man,  and  nothing  but  a  Picard. 
It  appears  that  he  had  been  led  to  utter  these  words  in  con- 
sequence of  a  violent  quarrel  which  had  occurred,  a  little 
previously,  between  Calvin  and  Ami  Perrin,  which  it  had 
required  the  interference  of  the  council  to  appease.  Some  of 
the  company,  after  enjoying  Ameaux' s  good  cheer,  carried  his 
words  to  the  council,  who  caused  him  to  be  imprisoned  and 
tried  for  them.^  While  yet  in  prison,  and  before  his  sen- 
tence had  been  pronounced,  Henri  de  la  Mar,  in  a  conversation 
with  one  Benedict  Tixier,  related  what  had  passed  at  the 
supper,  the  substance  of  which  was  given  by  Tixier  in  a  de- 
position before  the  council  on  the  12th  of  March.  Tixier  had 
asked  whether  Ameaux  had  said  any  thing  directly  against 
God  or  man  ;  to  which  De  la  Mar  replied  :  **  I  think  he  said 
something  against  Calvin ;  nevertheless,  if  there  be  any  thing 
wrong,  and  if  he  has  committed  himself,  it  was  after  drink- 
ing." Of  Calvin  himself  De  la  Mar  said  :  "  I  have  always 
known  him  to  be  a  good  and  virtuous  man,  and  of  great  in- 

1  P.  Henry,  ii.,  412. 

2  "  On  met  Pierre  Ameaulx  en  prison  pour  avoir  dit  que  M.  Calvin  pre- 
choit  une  fausse  doctrine,  etoit  un  tres  mechant  homme,  et  n'etoit  qu'uu 
Picard." — R6gistres,  27  Jan.,  1546.  The  last  word  is  ambiguous,  and  may 
relate  either  to  Calvin's  birtli-place,  or  to  a  term  of  reproach  then  in  uso. 
See  Bayle,  Pecar^. 


174  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

tellect.  But  he  is  somewhat  governed  hy  his  passions  ;  im- 
patient, full  of  hatred,  and  vindictive  :  and  if  he  once  takes 
a  spite  against  a  man  he  never  forgives."  This  conversation 
cost  De  la  Mar  his  place  ;  who,  together  with  Maigret,  was 
deposed  from  the  ministry,  as  having  sided  with  Calvin's 
enemies.  Before  the  council  pronounced  their  sentence  on 
Ameaux,  they  summoned  before  them  all  the  ministers,  with 
the  exception  of  the  two  just  named,  and  also  the  elders,  and 
examined  them  as  to  Calvin's  character,  and  the  truth  of 
Ameaux's  charges  ;  all  of  whom  bore  testimony  to  Calvin's 
piety  and  charity,  and  the  perfect  congruity  of  his  doctrine 
with  the  word  of  God  ;  in  which  doctrine  they  professed  that 
they  wished  to  live  and  die,  and  to  have  no  schism  among 
them.  Ameaux  made  an  apology,  in  which  he  retracted  his 
words,  declaring  that  he  had  not  all  his  senses  about  him  at 
the  time,  and  that  henceforward  he  would  treat  Calvin  with 
proper  respect.  The  council,  nevertheless,  condemned  him 
in  a  fine  of  sixty  dollars  ;  a  tolerably  large  sum  in  those  days, 
and  quite  adequate,  one  would  think,  to  the  offense,  seeing 
that  it  had  been  committed  in  ms  own  house,  at  an  unguarded 
moment — that  Ameaux  hau  amply  retracted  it,  and  that  he 
had  suffered  two  months'  imprisoment  on  account  of  it.  But 
Calvin,  whose  charity  had  just  been  vouched  by  the  recorded 
testimony  of  his  colleagues,  was  not  satisfied.  He  appeared 
before  the  council,  accompanied  by  the  other  ministers  and 
elders,  complained  of  the  mildness  of  the  judges,  and  de- 
manded that  the  sentence  should  be  quashed.  Hereupon  the 
trial  was  renewed.  By  a  second  sentence  Ameaux  was  con- 
demned to  the  degrading  punishment  called  the  amende 
honorable;  namely,  to  parade  the  town  in  his  shirt,  with 
bare  head,  and  a  lighted  torch  in  his  hand,  and  to  finish  by 
making  on  his  knees  a  public  acknowledgment  of  his  con- 
trition.^ A  striking  instance  of  Calvin's  power  I  when  we 
find  him  making  the  chief  judicial  and  legislative  body  of  the 
state  thus  stultify  its  decision  at  his  pleasure.  Besides  being 
deposed  from  the  ministry,  Henri  de  la  Mar  was  also  im- 
prisoned for  some  days  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in  this 
affair. 

The  severity  of  Ameaux's  sentence  caused  considerable  ex- 
citement at  Geneva,  especially  in  the  quarter  of  St.  Gervais, 
where  symptoms  of  riot  and  insubordination  appeared.  On 
the  30th  of  March  the  whole  council  proceeded  to  that  quar- 
ter, attended  by  the  police  under  arms,  and  caused  a  gibbet 

1  P.  Henry,  ii.,  426. 


CALVIN'S  DESPOTISM.  175 

to  be  erected,  by  way  of  terror  to  the  populace.  The  sale 
of  wine  was  also  forbidden.  These  steps  had  the  desired 
effect ;  and  on  the  5th  of  April  Ameaux's  sentence  was 
quietly  carried  into  execution. 

Calvin  had  thus  gained  a  sort  of  victory,  which  served  to 
strengthen  his  hands ;  and  the  proceedings  of  the  consistory 
for  the  maintenance  of  discipline  went  on  more  vigorously 
than  ever.  Numbers  of  persons  were  cited  before  that  body 
and  their  morals  inquired  into.  The  representation  of  a 
play,  or  morality,  called  the  "  History  of  the  Apostles,"  was 
forbidden,  at  the  instance  of  the  ministers,  after  it  had  been 
acted  several  times  with  great  applause,  and  had  even  been 
attended  by  the  council.  The  minister,  Michael  Cop,  who 
had  made  himself  conspicuous  on  this  occasion,  was  cited  be- 
fore the  council,  for  having  said,  in  a  sermon  at  St.  Peter's, 
that  the  women  who  should  appear  in  this  play  were  shame- 
less and  without  honor,  and  that  their  only  design  was  to  ex- 
cite impure  desires  by  appearing  dressed  up  in  it.^  Calvin 
has  described  this  affair  in  a  letter  to  Farel,^  from  which  it 
appears  that,  though  he  took  Cop's  part,  even  he  was  of  opin- 
ion that  that  minister  had  carried  his  zeal  too  far.  The  affair 
was  near  leading  to  a  serious  riot,  but  was  settled  by  the  in- 
terference of  Calvin,  and  Abel,  one  of  his  colleagues.  The 
reforms  now  sought  to  be  introduced  were  petty  and  vexa- 
tious. Among  other  things,  people  were  forbidden  to  give 
their  children  the  names  of  Roman  Catholic  saints,  and  in- 
stances occur  of  imprisonment  for  refusing  to  comply  with  this 
regulation.  On  the  27th  of  April,  1546,  we  find  one  Chapuis 
imprisoned  for  four  days  for  persisting  to  name  his  son  Claude 
instead  of  Abraham,  as  the  minister  wished ;  and  for  saying 
that  he  would  sooner  keep  his  son  fifteen  years  unbaptized. 
At  the  end  of  the  same  entry  in  the  Registers  we  find  it 
stated  that  Calvin  had  called  the  people  of  St.  Gervais 
"beasts,"  and  threatened  to  hang  some  of  them.^  Such  was 
the  pitch  of  despotism  at  which  he  had  arrived.  He  seems 
to  have  thoroughly  despised  the  council  of  this  year,  which 
indeed  he  might  well  do  after  their  conduct  in  the  case  of 
Ameaux.     In  the  letter  to  Farel,  before  referred  to,  he  de- 

1  R6pstres,  28  Juin,  1546.     Grenus,  Fragm.  Biogr.     _     ;  ^     ^  Ep.  68. 

3  "  Chapuis  mis  en  prison,  27  Avril,  pour  avoir  persiste  a  nommer  son 

fils  Claude,  quoique  la  rainistre  n' ait  pas  voulu,  mais  Abraham il  avait 

dit  qu'il  garderoit  son  fils  plutot  quinze  ans  sans  bapteme.  On  le  garda 
quatre  jours  en  prison.  C'etoit  le  jour  de  la  reconfirmation  de  la  bourgeoisie 
que  Calvin  dit  que  les  gens  de  St.  G-ervais  etoient  des  betes  et  qu'il  en 
pendroit." — Rigistrea,  1546.     P.  Henry,  ii.,  429. 


176  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

scribes  them  as  entirely  at  his  devotion,  but  at  the  same  time 
censures  the  timidity  which  constantly  characterized  them.' 
It  was  in  the  autumn  of  this  year  that  he  endeavored  to 
subjugate  their  minds  by  a  method  which,  in  one  so  remark- 
ably free  from  superstition  as  Calvin,  has  all  the  appearance 
of  priestcraft.  The  affair  alluded  to — the  pretended  carrying 
off  of  a  man  by  the  devil — is  noted  in  the  Registers  under 
the  date  of  the  15th  of  October,  1546,  and  is  described  by 
Calvin  himself  in  a  letter  to  Viret  dated  on  the  14th  of  No- 
vember.^ A  laborer,  who  lived  at  a  little  distance  from  Gen- 
eva, after  losing  his  wife  and  four  children  by  the  plague,  had 
himself  been  seized  with  the  same  disorder.  Calvin  describes 
him  as  a  man  of  an  evil  and  profligate  life ;  a  drunkard  and 
frequenter  of  taverns,  a  brawler  and  blasphemer,  and  an  open 
contemner  of  God.  When  his  neighbors  called  him  to  ac- 
count for  going  so  seldom  to  the  church,  I  have  heard,  says 
Calvin,  that  he  was  accustomed  to  say  :  "  What !  have  I 
hired  myself  to  Calvin  to  go  and  hear  him  preach  ?"  When 
the  disorder  had  reduced  him  to  such  weakness  that  he  could 
scarce  lift  up  his  hand,  he  was  suddenly  seized  with  a  frenzy 
in  the  night,  and  endeavored  to  leap  out  of  bed,  but  was  re- 
strained by  his  mother  and  the  servant.  Meanwhile,  his  dis- 
course ran  wholly  on  the  devil,  and  on  his  being  a  desperate 
sinner  and  reprobate,  and  the  destined  prey  of  Satan ;  and 
when  exhorted  to  pray  to  God,  he  said  it  was  of  no  use,  that 
he  was  given  over  to  the  devil,  and  that  God  was  no  more  to 
him  than  the  vilest  part  of  an  old  shoe.  About  seven  in  the 
morning,  as  his  mother  was  sitting  at  the  door  of  her  cottage, 
he  suddenly  flew  over  her  head,  as  if  he  had  been  carried 
away ;  and  in  spite  of  the  efforts  both  of  herself  and  the 
servant  to  hold  him,  was  borne  to  a  distance  with  wonderful 
swiftness  and  force.  In  his  course  lay  a  broad  road,  with  a 
hedge  and  ditch  on  both  sides,  neither  of  which  he  could  have 
jumped  over  without  breaking  his  limbs  ;  yet,  over  these  ob- 
stacles the  women  asserted  that  they  beheld  him  carried  like 
a  whirlwind,  into  a  vineyard  on  the  other  side  of  the  road. 
They  pointed  out  the  very  spot  where  he  had  vanished  from 
their  sight,  and  where  his  cap  had  been  found  on  the  banks 
of  the  Rhone  ;  but  some  boatmen  were  employed  in  vain  to 
search  the  river  for  his  body. 

Such  was  the  story,  which  admits  of  no  difficult  solution 

1  See  Ep.  68. 

2  Printed  by  Dr.  Henry,   i.,   Beil.  1-2.       "Enlevement  pr^tendu   d'un 
laboureur  par  le  diable." — RSgistres,  15  Oct.     G-renus,  Fragra.  Biogr. 


PRIESTCRAFT.  17^ 

The  man,  in  his  frenzy,  had  rushed  out  of  doors,  and  flung 
himself  into  the  Rhone  :  the  supernatural  incidents  alleged 
to  have  accompanied  the  act  were  merely  the  exaggerations 
suggested  by  the  terrified  imaginations  of  the  old  women. 
Such,  in  fact,  was  the  interpretation  put  upon  the  story  by 
the  sober  part  of  the  population  of  Geneva,  who  were  only 
inclined  to  laugh  at  it  :  at  which  levity,  however,  Calvin  was 
highly  offended.  His  own  name  had  been  mixed  up  in  the 
affair ;  and,  among  other  sins,  the  victim  of  Satan  had  neg- 
lected to  attend  his  sermons,  and  had  even  indulged  himself 
in  a  sneer  at  them  :  a  point  on  which  Calvin  was  particularly 
sensitive.  After  a  discussion  among  the  ministers,  it  was  re- 
solved that  the  matter  deserved  inquiry,  and  Calvin  was  de- 
puted to  bring  it  under  the  notice  of  the  council.  He  ac- 
cordingly addressed  that  body  in  a  long  speech,  in  which  he 
insisted  on  the  necessity  of  discovering  the  truth,  in  order  that, 
if  the  story  was  a  fable,  it  might  be  refuted  by  public  author- 
ity ;  but  that  if  it  was  true,  so  signal  a  judgment  of  God 
might  not  be  buried  in  oblivion.  He  remarked  that  he  saw 
many  who  tried  to  dismiss  the  affair  with  a  joke  ;  but  he  ad- 
monished them  that  there  never  was  so  plain  a  miracle  which 
Satan  did  not  endeavor  to  obscure.  In  consequence  of  these 
representations,  the  four  syndics,  the  greater  part  of  the  coun- 
cil, the  lieutenant  of  police  and  his  court,  together  with  Cal- 
vin himself,  repaired  to  the  spot,  and  examined  the  women. 
"Though  the  matter  was  so  plain,"  says  Calvin,  "yet  some 
of  our  chief  men  were  guilty  of  the  most  impudent  tergiversa- 
tion. Hereupon  I  exclaimed  with  a  loud  voice,  *  If  you  be- 
lieve there  are  any  devils,  you  here  clearly  behold  the  devil's 
power.  They  who  have  not  faith  in  God  deserve  to  be  blind 
in  open  day.'  "^  On  the  next  Sunday  Calvin,  by  the  advice 
of  his  brethren,  inveighed  severely  in  his  sermon  against  those 
who  treated,  or  pretended  to  treat,  a  well-authenticated  fact 
as  a  fable.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  testify  that  he  had 
demanded  death  with  the  most  ardent  vows  more  than  twenty 
times  during  those  two  days,  when  he  beheld  them  surveying 
the  judgment  of  God  with  such  brazen  fronts  !  "  For,"  he 
adds,  "  the  impiety  of  our  people  was  never  so  openly  detect- 
ed. A  few  only  verbally  assented,  but  I  know  not  if  a  single 
one  believed  in  his  heart.  I  added  two  other  instances  which 
had  recently  occurred,  though  not  equally  remarkable.  A 
man  who  had  gone  into  a  wine-cellar  on  a  Sunday,  during 
the  sermon,  to  indulge  in  his  potations,  happened  to  fall  on 
1  Calvin  to  Viret  (P.  Henry,  i.,  Beil.,  p.  67). 
H* 


178  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

his  sword,  which  had  sUpped  out  of  its  scabbard,  and  was 
carried  out  dying.  Another  who,  in  the  preceding  Septem- 
ber, on  communion-day,  had  endeavored  to  cUmb  up  to  the 
window  of  his  mistress,  had  a  terrible  fall,  and  broke  several 
of  his  bones.  At  length  I  concluded  :  till  hell  absorbs  you, 
with  your  whole  families,  you  will  not  believe  when  God 
stretches  forth  his  hand  I"  Such  was  the  use  which  Calvin 
sometimes  made  of  the  casualties  of  the  day,  to  enforce  his 
spiritual  authority. 

We  have  already  adverted  to  a  quarrel  which  had  taken 
place  between  Calvin  and  Ami  Perrin,  who  at  this  time  en- 
joyed the  post  of  captain-general,  or  commander  of  the  Gen- 
evese  troops  ;  and  some  occurrences  which  followed  in  the 
course  of  this  year  served  to  embroil  them  more  and  more. 
Perrin  had  married  the  daughter  of  Fabri,  who  belonged  to 
one  of  the  leading  families  of  Geneva,  and  one  of  the  most 
ardent  in  the  Patriotic  cause.  The  consequences  of  a  wed- 
ding which  occurred  in  this  family  led  to  some  severe  exer- 
cises of  the  consistorial  power.  It  must  be  confessed,  how- 
ever, that  the  occasion  on  which  they  were  exerted  shows 
that  the  morals  and  manners  of  many  even  of  the  higher 
classes  of  the  Genevese  were  in  a  very  corrupt  and  deplor- 
able state,  and  required  great  amendment ;  though  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  the  violent  means  adopted  by  Calvin  were 
the  best  suited  to  that  purpose.  The  great  want  seems  to 
have  been  that  of  education,  without  which  it  is  in  vain  to 
expect  decency  of  manners.  "We  shall  leave  Calvin  to  de- 
scribe these  occurrences  in  his  own  words,  in  a  letter  to  Viret, 
dated  on  the  11th  of  August,  1546  ;^  only  it  is  necessary,  to 
the  understanding  of  some  parts  of  it,  to  premise  that  Calvin, 
at  this  time,  was  accustomed  to  designate  the  leading  person- 
ages among  his  opponents  by  some  nick-name.  Thus,  the 
Penthesilea  mentioned  in  it  was  the  wife  of  Perrin  ;  Proser- 
fine  seems  to  have  been  either  his  mother  or  mother-in-law. 
Perrin  himself  he  sometimes  calls  the  tragic,  and  sometimes 
the  comic  Ccesar ;  apparently  with  a  view  to  ridicule  his 
political  pretensions. 

"  A  bastard,  named  D'Orbe,  of  the  house  of  Fabri,  lately," 
says  Calvin,  "  married  another  bastard  of  a  certain  Nantois, 
and  about  thirty  persons  went  out  to  meet  the  bride.  This 
was  an  absurd  piece  of  pomp  ;  for  the  husband,  as  you  know, 
IS  a  man  of  no  mark  or  station ;  and  yet  a  very  unreasonable 
clatter  was  raised  in  the  town  on  his  behalf     They  left  home 

1  Ep.  69. 


STRUGGLES  WITH  THE  LIBERTINES.  1"^ 

when  the  first  sermon  was  deUvering.  and  returned  during  the 
second.  What  was  the  consequence  ?  The  Lord  hath  hum- 
bled all  that  pomp.^  Brother  Abel  performed  the  marriage 
ceremony.  At  the  time  when  he  was  to  pledge  the  conjugal 
faith,  the  rascally  husband  was  thinking  of  other  things  ;  and 
when  told  at  least  to  bow  assent,  he  shook  his  head.  There 
was  a  murmur  of  indignation  among  the  people.  Neverthe- 
less Abel  proceeded,  though  he  ought  to  have  broken  off  the 
ceremony ;  but  he  asserts  that  he  did  not  remark  the  act. 
But  what  Abel  treated  so  lightly  has  been  severely  punished 
by  the  council ;  and  that  supercilious  gentleman,  after  eight 
days  of  close  confinement,  has  to-day  acknowledged  his  guilt 
in  the  face  of  the  church.  His  wife's  uncle  is  still  in  prison. 
The  jailor  has  strict  orders  to  give  him  nothing  but  bread  and 
water ;  nor  will  he  be  released  without  some  mark  of  public 
ignominy.  For  when  he  was  reproved  by  brother  Raymond 
for  openly  denying  God,  he  repeated  his  execrable  blasphemy, 
and  told  him  he  was  sorry  he  had  not  pulled  his  beard,  knock- 
ed him  down,  and  kicked  him.  Proserpine  also,  the  day  be- 
fore they  received  the  spouse  with  such  honors,  beat  the  moth- 
er-in-law in  such  a  manner  that  she  bled  profusely  ;  her  whole 
countenance  was  disfigured  with  wounds,  and  her  head  cover- 
ed with  dirt.  You  know  the  old  woman's  temper ;  she  was 
heard  through  the  whole  street,  calling  on  God  and  man  to 
assist  her.  We  cited  her  before  the  consistory,  but  she  had 
escaped  to  her  sister's  :  however,  we  shall  cite  her  again  on 
the  first  opportunity.  What  could  I  do  ?  Was  T  to  incur 
the  condemnation  of  the  whole  church  by  seeking,  through 
my  silence,  to  conciliate  a  single  individual  ?  I  will  take 
care,  however,  to  give  him  no  just  cause  of  offense.  Pen- 
thesilea  will  certainly  have  to  be  reprimanded  shortly.  She 
patronizes  the  worst  causes,  and  conducts  their  defense  with 
fury  ;  in  short,  her  every  word  and  deed  betray  her  utter 
want  of  modesty." 

The  individual  whom  Calvin  appears,  from  the  latter  part 
of  this  letter,  to  have  been  desirous  of  conciliating,  must  have 
been  Perrin.  But  another  infringement  of  the  discipline 
brought  not  only  Perrin  and  his  wife,  but  the  whole  family 
of  Fabri,  before  the  consistory.  Their  crime,  on  this  occa- 
sion, was  dancing  at  a  wedding  celebrated  at  the  house  of  the 
widow  Balthazar  at  Bellerive.  Among  the  company  was 
Corne,  one  of  the  syndics,  as  well  as  Perrin.     We  will  again 

1  The  force  of  the  original  is  untranslateable.  "  Dominus  stercore  as- 
persit  totam  illam  pompam." 


180  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

make  Calvin  the  narrator,  of  these  circumstances,  which  we  *• 

find  detailed  in  a  letter  to  Farel.^ 

'*  Since  you  left  us,  we  have  had  more  trouble  about  danc- 
ing than  I  thought  we  should  have.  All  who  were  present 
at  this  fete,  with  the  exception  of  Corne  and  Perrin,  being 
cited  to  appear  before  the  consistory,  lied  most  impudently  in 
the  face  of  God  and  ourselves.  I  naturally  grew  angry  at 
this  baseness,  and  inveighed  vehemently  against  their  con- 
tempt of  God,  in  turning  into  ridicule  the  sacred  adjurations 
I  had  employed.  Being  well  acquainted  with  the  whole 
affair,  I  called  God  to  witness  that  such  gross  perjury  should 
not  go  unpunished ;  and  at  the  same  time  declared  that  if  it 
cost  me  my  life,  the  truth  should  be  discovered,  and  that 
therefore  they  need  not  think  to  gain  any  thing  by  their 
falsehoods.  Even  Frances  Perrin  abused  me  roundly  for 
being  so  inimical  to  the  Fabris.  I  answered  her  as  she  de- 
served, and  asked  if  the  family  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  invio- 
lability and  exemption  from  the  laws  ?  I  pointed  out  that 
the  father  had  been  already  convicted  of  one  adultery ;  that 
the  proof  of  another  was  at  hand ;  and  that  there  was  a  strong 
rumor  of  a  third.  I  stated  that  her  brother  had  openly  con- 
temned and  derided  both  the  council  and  myself  Finally,  I 
added,  that  if  they  were  not  content  to  submit  to  us  here 
under  the  yoke  of  Christ,  they  must  build  another  city  for 
themselves  :  for  that  so  long  as  they  remained  at  Geneva, 
they  would  strive  in  vain  to  elude  the  laws  ;  and  that  if  each 
furious  head  in  the  house  of  Fabri  wore  a  diadem,  it  should 
not  prevent  the  Lord  from  being  superior.  Meanwhile  her 
husband  (Ami  Perrin)  had  betaken  himself  to  Lyons,  in  hopes 
that  the  matter  would  be  passed  over  in  silence.  On  my  pro- 
posing that  they  should  be  sworn  to  confess  the  truth,  Corne 
admonished  them  that  he  would  not  suffer  them  to  forswear 
themselves.  They  then  made  the  desired  confession,  and 
moreover,  that  they  had  danced  that  day  at  the  widow  Bal- 
thazar's ;  whereupon  they  were  all  thrown  into  prison.  The 
syndic  (Corne)  showed  a  remarkable  example  of  moderation  ; 
and  spontaneously  denounced  himself,  and  the  whole  of  the 
company,  too  strongly  to  render  it  necessary  to  have  many 
words  with  him.  Yet  he  was  severely  reprimanded  by  the 
consistory,  and  degraded  from  his  office  till  he  should  show 
some  satisfactory  proofs  of  repentance.  They  now  say  that 
Perrin  is  returned  from  Lyons." 

Perrin  had  indeed  returned,  and  seems  to  have  been  de- 

'^Ep.  71. 


AMI  PERRIN.  181 

sirous  of  entering  into  some  arrangement  or  compromise  with 
Calvin  respecting  this  affair  ;  as  appears  from  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  him  by  Calvin,  which,  though  rather  out  of  its 
order  in  his  published  correspondence,  seems  referable  to  this 
period.^     In  this  Calvin  says  : — 

"  Monsieur  le  Capitaine, 
"  I  would  willingly  have  met  you,  but  that  I  thought  it 
not  expedient;  the  reason  I  will  explain  to  you  at  the  proper 
time  and  place.  I  wish  you  had  appeared  before  the  consist- 
ory, in  order  to  set  an  example  to  others.  As  the  citation  may 
seem  imperfect  because  you  had  not  been  previously  admon- 
ished, I  wish  at  heart  you  had  been  present  at  the  last  sermon 
to-day,  that  the  syndic  Corne  and  myself  might  have  treated 
with  you.  I  do  not  see  what  hindered  it ;  but  I  wish  you  to 
consider  that  we  can  not  use  different  weights  and  an  uneven 
balance  ;  and  that  if  equality  is  to  be  observed  in  law,  ine- 
quality can  not  be  tolerated  in  the  Church  of  God.  You 
know  what  sort  of  man  I  am,  or  at  least  ought  to  know  ;  one 
to  whom  the  word  of  my  Heavenly  Master  is  so  dear,  that 
regard  for  no  human  being  shall  prevent  me  from  conscien- 
tiously asserting  it.  I  do  not  myself  know  that  you  have 
other  views  ;  but  I  perceive  that  every  one  is  rather  blind  in 
his  own  cause.  For  my  part,  I  not  only  desire  that  the  edifi- 
catiori  of  the  church  and  your  own  salvation  should  be  con- 
sulted in  this  business,  but  even  your  convenience,  your  repu- 
tation, and  your  ease.  For  you  would  incur  a  great  deal  of 
odium  if  you  were  released  from  that  common  law  by  which 
all  are  bound  ;  and  from  the  love  I  bear  you,  it  would  be 
better  for  you  to  anticipate  the  danger,  than  that  such  a 
brand  should  be  inflicted  on  you.  I  have  heard,  indeed,  the 
rumor  proceeding  from  your  house,  that  I  should  take  care 
how  I  blew  the  dormant  fire,  lest  the  matter  should  end  with 
me  as  it  did  seven  years  ago.  But  such  words  make  no  im- 
pression on  me  :  I  did  not  return  to  Geneva  with  the  view  of 
obtaining  leisure  or  profit,  nor  will  it  be  to  my  sorroAV  should 
I  have  again  to  leave  it.  It  was  the  welfare  and  safety  of 
the  Church  and  of  the  city  that  induced  me  to  return  ;  and  if 
I  alone  were  now  in  question,  I  would  ^ay  once  for  all  to 
those  whom  I  importune  by  my  presence,  '  What  you  do,  do 
quickly.'  But  the  unworthiness  and  ingratitude  of  certain 
persons,  shall  not  make  me  wanting  to  my  duty  ;  nor  will  I 

1  Ep.  88  (no  date). 


182  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN.       • 

lay  aside  till  my  last  breath  that  love  toward  this  place  which 
I  have  from  God,"  &c. 

In  spite  of  his  office,  however,  Perrin  was  thrown  into 
prison,  though  it  does  not  appear  how  long  he  remained 
there.  During  the  following  year  the  quarrel  grew  still 
warmer.  Perrin  and  his  relations,  who  formed  part  of  the 
council,  declaimed  loudly  against  the  consistory  ;  comparing 
its  functions  with  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  and  maintaining  that  the  depriving  of  the  magis- 
trates of  a  portion  of  their  power,  and  giving  it  to  the  consist- 
ory, was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  relapse  into  Popery. 
These  representations  had  such  an  effect  upon  the  council, 
that  in  the  month  of  March,  1547,  a  majority  voted  that  their 
body  should  exercise  a  control  over  church  discipline  ;  but 
Calvin,  supported  by  the  other  ministers,  made  so  vigorous  a 
remonstrance  that  it  was  determined  eventually  to  abide  by 
the  established  regulations.^  Calvin's  inflexibility  irritated 
the  Libertines  more  and  more,  and  some  further  collisions 
with  Perrin's  family  added  fuel  to  the  flame.  His  father-in- 
law,  cited  before  the  consistory  to  answer  for  an  adultery,  re- 
fused to  appear ;  and  his  wife,  called  before  the  same  body 
for  having  danced,  maintained  that  it  had  no  right  to  take 
cognizance  of  such  things,  and  complained  of  the  bitter  affront 
offered  to  her  in  dragging  her  before  a  tribunal  whose  juris- 
diction should  extend  only  to  rogues  and  criminals.  On  Abel 
Poupin  remonstrating  with  her,  she  overwhelmed  him  with 
abuse,  and  became  so  violent  that  it  was  necessary  to  put  her 
out  of  the  room.  The  council  ordered  her  to  be  thrown  into 
still  closer  confinement ;  whence,  however,  she  managed  to 
escape  through  the  assistance  of  another  lady,  whom  Calvin 
describes  as  the  patroness  of  all  bad  causes.  Accompanied 
by  one  of  her  sons,  she  fled  from  Geneva  ;  and  meeting  Abel 
Poupin  by  chance  near  one  of  the  gates,  renewed  her  attack 
upon  him  more  violently  than  before.^ 

This  happened  on  the  26th  of  June  ;  and  on  the  following 
day  a  libel,  couched  in  the  most  violent  language,  was  found 
attached  to  Calvin's  pulpit  in  St.  Peter's  church.  It  was 
written  in  the  imtou  then  current,  and  its  tenor  was  as  fol- 
lows :  "  You  and  your  companions  will  gain  little  by  your 
pains.  If  you  do  not  leave  the  city  nobody  shall  prevent  your 
overthrow,  and  you  will  curse  the  hour  that  you  left  your 
monkery.     Warning  has  been  already  given  that  the  devil 

1  Ruchat,  V.  317.  2  Calvin,  Ep.  77 


CALVIN  MENACED.  183 

and  his  renegade  priests  were  come  hither  to  ruin  every  thing. 
But  after  people  have  suffered  long  they  avenge  themselves 
Take  care  that  you  are  not  served  like  M.  Wernly,  of  Fri- 
burgh.  We  will  not  have  so  many  masters.  Mark  my 
words  well."^ 

The  council  were  alarmed  at  this  audacious  threat,  and 
ordered  steps  to  be  taken  for  the  discovery  of  its  author.  Sus- 
picion fell  on  one  Jaques  Gruet,  who  was  known  to  be  one  of 
the  leading  members  of  the  Libertine  faction,  and  who  had 
been  heard  to  utter  some  threats  against  Calvin  only  a  few 
days  previously.  He  was  immediately  arrested  ;  and  though 
the  libel  did  not  appear  to  be  in  his  handwriting,  yet  on  search- 
ing his  house  other  papers  were  found  which  tended  to  impli- 
cate him.  Among  them  was  a  memorial,  or  petition,  for  the 
abolition  of  the  ecclesiastical  discipline,  intended  to  be  presented 
to  the  general  assembly ;  in  which  it  was  maintained  that 
nothing  should  be  vindicated  by  the  laws  but  what  was  hurt- 
ful to  civil  government :  a  proposition  which  was  supported 
by  an  appeal  to  the  practice  of  the  Venetians,  a  people  very 
skillful  in  political  science.  It  also  stated,  that  whi'.d  Geneva 
suffered  itself  to  be  ruled  by  the  brain  of  one  melancholy  man, 
there  was  danger  lest  a  sedition  should  arise,  in  which  a 
thousand  citizens  might  fall.  Several  letters  were  also  found 
addressed  to  Andre  Philippe,  Pierre  de  Bourg,  and  other  per- 
sons, which  were  filled  with  abuse  of  Calvin,  and  in  which 
he  was  described  as  haughty,  ambitious,  and  obstinate  ;  as  a 
great  hypocrite,  who  wished  to  make  himself  adored,  and  to 
rob  the  Pope  of  his  dignity  ;  and  as  of  such  audacity  that  he 
had  said  he  would  make  kings  and  emperors  tremble.  He 
was  also  represented  as  a  man  who  pretended  to  divine  inspi- 
ration ;  and  he  was  advised  to  renounce  Christianity,  and  to 
make  himself  the  head  of  a  new  religion.  Lastly,  there  were 
found  two  pages  written  in  Latin,  in  which  the  Scriptures 
were  ridiculed,  and  Christ  blasphemed  ;  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  was  called  a  dream  and  a  fable ;  and,  in  short,  the  very 
foundations  of  religion  were  attacked  and  undermined.^  This 
last  paper  Calvin  did  not  take  to  be  the  composition  of  Gruet, 
but  being  in  his  handwriting  it  formed  one  of  the  articles  of  in- 
dictment against  him.  A  copy  of  Calvin's  work  against  the 
Libertines  was  also  found  in  his  possession,  against  a  passage  of 
which  he  had  written  in  the  margin,  "  toiUesfoliesy^ 

1  The  original  document,  from  GalifFe,  will  be  found  in  P.  Henry,  ii.,  441. 
Compare  Spon,  ii.,  47.     Ruchat,  v.,  318. 

a  Calvin,  Ep.  77.     Spon  ii.,  45,  note  s.  ^  P.  Henry,  ii.,  442, 


184  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN 

The  suspicion  which  fell  so  readily  on  Gruet  had  not  been, 
as  we  have  observed,  without  some  antecedents  to  direct  it. 
The  Patriots  had  now  taken  a  leaning  toward  the  Bernese, 
who  were  opposed  to  the  council  of  Geneva  and  to  Calvin ; 
and  Gruet  and  others  had  adopted  a  style  of  dress  then  preva- 
lent at  Berne,  as  a  symbol  of  their  political  principles.  This 
emblem  of  sedition,  against  which  the  consistory  repeatedly 
hurled  its  thunders,  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  pair  of 
breeches  open  at  the  knee  (caligce  dissectce)  ;  and  from  a  let- 
ter of  Calvin's  to  Viret,  written  about  a  month  before  the 
affair  of  Gruet,^  we  find  that  the  subject  had  been  deemed 
important  enough  to  be  brought  before  the  council  of  Two 
Hundred.  On  this  occasion  Calvin  made  a  speech,  in  which 
he  declared  that  he  did  not  care  for  the  trifles  in  question,' 
except  as  they  were  the  badge  of  corruption  and  sedition  ;  and 
represents  himself  as  addressing  the  assembly  with  such  effect 
as  at  once  deprived  his  opponents  of  all  their  hopes.  Besides 
these  attacks  in  the  senate,  the  ministers  also  denounced  the 
leaders  of  the  popular  party  from  the  pulpit,  and  even  abused 
them  by  name.  Thus  Abel  Poupin  called  Fabri  "  dog  ;"  and 
Calvin,  in  one  of  his  sermons,  saluted  Gruet  with  the  same 
title,  adding  other  hard  words,  such  as  goinfre  and  halaufre? 

After  his  apprehension,  Gruet  was  tortured  morning  and 
evening  for  a  month ;  but  he  would  not  name  any  accom- 
plices, though  he  must  undoubtedly  have  had  several.  He 
confessed  that  he  had  affixed  the  libel,  and  that  the  papers 
found  were  his  ;  and  with  many  tears  besought  the  council  to 
put  him  to  death  immediately.  He  was  beheaded  on  the  26  th 
of  July.  His  sentence  ran  that  he  had  spoken  of  religion  with 
contempt,  and  asserted  that  laws,  both  divine  and  human, 
were  but  the  work  of  man's  caprice  ;  that  he  had  written  ob- 
scene and  ungodly  letters  and  verses,  and  maintained  that 
fornication  was  not  criminal  when  both  parties  were  consent- 
ing, thus  seeking  to  overthrow  the  ecclesiastical  discipline, 
and  to  derogate  from  the  authority  of  the  consistory ;  that  he 
had  threatened  the  Reformers  and  clergy,  and  had  especially 
spoken  ill  of  Calvin  ;  that  he  had  written  letters  to  excite  the 
French  court  against  the  latter,  and  induce  the  King  of  France 
to  complain  of  him ;  and  lastly,  that  he  had  threatened  the 
council  itself^ 

Two  or  three  years  after  Gruet' s  execution,  a  treatise  filled 
with  the  most  horrible  blasphemies  was  found  in  a  garret  of 

1  Ep.  76,  May  28th,  1547.  2  gpon,  1.  0. 

3  P.  Henry,  ii.,  444. 


AFFAIR  OF  GRUET.  185 

his  house,  which  some  have  supposed  to  have  been  the  book 
known  by  the  title  ''^De  tribus  Impostoribus''^  But  the  aim 
of  Gruet's  work  was  to  show  that  the  founders  of  Judaism 
and  Christianity  were  criminals,  and  that  the  latter  was  justly 
crucified ;  whereas  the  treatise  "  De  tribus  Lnpostoribus''  was 
a  philosophical  essay,  which,  without  resorting  to  blasphemy, 
endeavored  to  prove  in  a  quiet  and  even  sorrowful  spirit,  that 
the  revelations  of  Moses,  Christ,  and  Mohammed  are  impos- 
tures, and  that  only  natural  religion  can  be  regarded  as  true. 
Gruet's  book  was  publicly  burned  by  Calvin's  advice  in  May, 
1550.2 

That  Gruet  had  adopted  the  most  detestable  principles  of 
atheism  can  not  be  doubted  ;  yet  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  he 
was  executed  for  them.  The  only  evidence  against  him  on 
this  head,  at  the  time  of  his  trial,  was  the  two  sheets  written 
in  Latin,  which  Calvin  himself  did  not  hold  to  be  his  compo- 
sition. With  regard  to  the  charge  of  high  treason,  the  evidence 
seems  to  have  been  very  slender,  or,  rather,  none  ;  and  but 
little  account  is  taken  of  it  in  the  sentence  pronounced  against 
him.  On  the  whole,  a  ve]:dict  of  capital  punishment  seems 
to  have  been  arrived  at,  not  from  any  single  charge,  but  from 
the  cumulative  charges  ;  and  among  these  it  is  impossible  not 
to  be  struck  with  the  prominent  place  occupied  by  those  which 
concerned  Calvin's  system  of  discipline,  and  himself  personally. 
The  impression  left  by  the  proceedings  is,  that  Gruet  was  the 
victim  of  Calvin's  ascendency,  and  of  his  desire  of  making  the 
power  of  his  consistory  absolute.  That  he  was  for  Gruet's 
execution,  appears  from  a  letter  of  his  to  Viret,  dated  on  the 
24th  of  July,  two  days  before  it  took  place,  in  which  he  con- 
demns the  hesitation  of  the  syndics.  In  this  he  says  :  "There 
is  nothing  new  here.  The  syndics  are  protracting  Gruet's 
affair  against  the  wish  of  the  council ;  which,  however,  does  not 
protest,  as  it  ought.  You  are  aware  that  there  are  few  dis 
creet  men  among  them."^  We  have  before  seen  that  Calvin 
entertained  a  supreme  contempt  for  the  council,  which  con- 
sisted of  men  infinitely  below  himself  in  intellect  and  acquire- 
ments, and  whom  he  was  therefore  easily  able  to  govern. 

The  affair  of  Gruet  made  the  Libertines  furious  against 
Calvin.  He  could  not  walk  the  streets  without  being  insulted 
and  threatened.     Writing  to  Farel  on  the  21st  of  August,  lie 

1  Spon,  ii.,  50.  The  authorship  of  this  work  has  been  variously  ascribed 
to  the  Emperor  Frederic  II.,  to  his  chancellor,  Pierre  de  Vignes,  to  Bocca- 
cio,  Machiavel,  Aretin,  and  others.  See  Barbier,  Diet,  des  Ouvrages  Anon- 
ymes,  Sj-c,  iii.,  648. 

2  For  some  account  of  it  see  P.  Henry,  ii.,  Beil.  16.  3  Ep.  80. 


186  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

says  :  "  Letters  were  daily  received,  especially  from  Lyons, 
from  which  I  learned  that  I  had  been  killed  more  than  ten 
times  over."^  In  the  letter  to  Viret  just  referred  to,  he  men- 
tions being  warned  of  dangers  which  awaited  him  in  several 
quarters ;  but  that  he  dissembled  his  knowledge  of  them,  in 
order  that  he  might  not  seem  too  solicitous  about  himself.  He 
observed  the  same  line  of  conduct  toward  his  followers  in 
France,  by  extenuating,  out  of  policy,  the  reports  in  circula- 
tion respecting  the  troubles  which  surrounded  him  at  Geneva. 
In  a  letter  to  the  French  Protestants,  dated  on  the  same  day 
as  that  to  Viret  (July  24th),  he  says  :^  "  I  do  not  doubt,  my 
beloved  brethren,  that  every  day  brings  you  many  tidings,  as 
well  from  this  place  as  from  Germany,  which  will  prove  a 
stumbling  block  to  those  who  have  not  taken  sufficient  root  in 
the  faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  but  with  regard  to  your- 
selves, I  am  persuaded  that  you  are  so  strengthened  by  the 
Jjord,  that  you  can  never  be  shaken  in  your  faith,  either  by 
these  or  still  graver  matters As  to  the  rumors  circu- 
lated respecting  our  seditions,  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  con- 
cocted by  the  retailers  of  them  during  their  journey  ;  for  if  you 
were  here  you  would  not  perceive  the  tenth  part-  of  them. 
We  have,  indeed,  too  many  of  a  stiff-necked  generation,  who 
now  and  then  endeavor  to  throw  off  the  yoke,  in  order  to  abol- 
ish the  discipline  of  the  church  by  their  tumults.  Among 
them  are  to  be  found  both  old  and  young ;  but  the  latter, 
especially,  are  most  depraved,  and  recalcitrate  because  they 
are  not  allowed  an  unbridled  license.  A  little  while  ago  they 
made  a  disturbance  about  a  very  trifling  thing,  namely,  be- 
cause we  had  prohibited  slashed  breeches  ;  though  the  same 
had  indeed  been  done  twelve  years  before.  Not  that  we  cared 
about  the  thing  itself,  but  because  we  saw  that  through  the 
chinks  of  those  breeches  a  door  would  be  opened  to  all  sorts  of 
profusion  and  luxury.  In  the  midst  of  these  skirmishings  the 
devil  suggested  something  else  to  them  ;  whence  these  grave 
whisperings  and  reports  :  for  when  they  found  us  discreeter 
than  they  wished,  they  gave  vent  to  the  venom  which  lay 
concealed  in  their  breasts.  But  it  is  nothing  but  smoke,  and 
their  threats  only  the  froth  of  the  pride  of  Moab,  whose  ferocity 
must  at  length  fall  with  a  crash." 

During  this  period  Calvin  inveighed  against  his  opponents 
from  the  pulpit  with  the  greatest  possible  warmth.  He  be- 
trayed no  symptoms  of  flinching  ;  and,  during  his  whole  strug- 
gle with  the  Libertine  party,  showed  so  much  resolution  and 

1  Ep.  81.  2  Ep.  79. 


PERRIN  IMPRISOxNED.  187 

courage  as  forms  a  perfect  contrast  with  the  picture  which  he 
sometimes  draws  of  his  own  pusillanimity.  In  this  respect  he 
seems  to  have  belonged  to  a  numerous  class  of  persons,  who 
dread  danger  in  the  contemplation  of  it,  but  when  actually  in 
its  presence  show  no  want  of  nerve  and  resolution.  His  con- 
stancy was  now  about  to  be  rewarded  by  a  temporary  triumph 
over  his  adversary,  Perrin,  and  his  family.  Perrin  had  gone 
to  the  court  of  France  as  embassador  from  Geneva,  where  he 
was  received  with  much  distinction.  The  Cardinal  du  Bellay 
had  sounded  him  as  to  whether  some  French  troops,  of  which 
he  should  have  the  command,  could  not  be  received  into  Gen- 
eva, in  order  to  frustrate  the  plans  which  the  emperor  was 
suspected  of  meditating  against  Switzerland.^  From  a  letter 
of  Calvin's,  before  quoted,*^  it  appears  that  Perrin  was  then 
still  in  France,  but  that  his  wife  had  returned  to  Geneva,  and 
was  living  in  the  house  of  her  father  Fabri,  where  she  was 
indulging  in  her  usual  revels  and  disorders.  The  absence  of 
Perrin,  and  the  execution  of  Gruet,  had  produced  a  sort  of 
calm ;  and  Calvin  describes  the  town  as  tranquil,  and  the 
council  as  favorable  to  him.  But  these  appearances  were  de- 
ceitful. Calvin  having  confessed  at  a  baptism  that  his  wife 
and  her  former  husband  had  once  embraced  the  Anabaptist 
tenets,  Perrin's  spouse  took  occasion  to  calumniate  Calvin's, 
saying  that  she  must,  then,  be  a  strumpet  f  and,  in  other 
respects,  carried  her  conduct  to  such  a  violent  extreme  that 
both  she  and  her  father  were  thrown  into  prison.  Perrin, 
having  returned  from  France,  complained  of  this,  and  declared 
that  he  would  be  revenged  for  such  an  affront ;  for  which 
menace  he  also  was  sent  to  prison  to  keep  them  company. 
This  excited  a  sedition,  which  broke  out  in  the  following 
month,  and  which  Catvin  has  described  in  a  letter  to  Viret, 
dated  on  the  17th  of  September,  1547."*  In  this  he  says: 
"  Our  enemies  are  so  blinded  that  they  have  no  regard  to  de-| 
cency.  Yesterday's  proceedings  not  a  little  served  to  verify! 
the  suspicion  I  had  previously  entertained  that  the  object  of 
those  persons'  insolent  behavior  was  to  excite  some  tumult. 
The  Two  Hundred  had  been  summoned,  and  I  had  told  my 
colleagues  the  day  before  that  I  should  attend  the  assembly. 
I  arrived  too  early,  and  as  several  of  the  members  were  walk- 
ing in  the  street,  I  went  out  by  the  gate  next  the  town-hall. 
Here  I  heard  a  mixture  of  confused  cries,  which  immediately 
increased  so  much  that  I  concluded  them  to  be  a  sure  sign  of 

1  Galiffe,  cited  by  P.  Henry,  li.,  437,  note.  a  Ep.  81. 

3  Jbid.,  and  Uucliat,  v.,  322.  *  Bp.  82. 


188  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

sedition.  I  ran  to  the  spot,  and,  though  the  sight  was  fearful, 
threw  myself  into  the  midst  of  the  crowd.  This  seemed  to 
astonish  them  :  yet  they  all  ran  toward  me,  and  snatched  me 
hither  and  thither  to  preserve  me  from  harm.  I  called  God 
and  man  to  witness  that  I  was  come  there  with  the  purpose 
of  exposing  my  body  to  their  swords ;  and  exhorted  them,  if 
their  intention  was  to  shed  blood,  to  begin  with  me.  This 
address  had  a  soothing  effect,  especially  upon  the  better-dis- 
posed portion  of  the  people.  At  length  I  was  dragged  to  the 
hall  of  the  assembly,  where  I  found  new  contests,  in  which  I 
interposed.  All  are  of  opinion  that  my  intervention  prevented 
a  great  and  horrible  carnage.  Meanwhile,  my  colleagues  had 
been  mixed  up  with  the  crowd,  I  at  length  succeeded  in 
tranquilizing  the  members,  and  getting  them  to  sit  down,  and 
then  addressed  them  in  a  long  and  vehement  speech  suited  to 
the  occasion,  with  which,  it  is  said,  all  except  a  few  were 
wonderfully  touched  :  who,  however,  were  as  loud  in  their 
praises  of  what  I  had  done  as  the  well-disposed.  God  hath 
hitherto  invested  me  and  my  colleagues  with  the  privilege  that 
even  the  most  depraved  at  least  pretend  to  regard  the  smallest 
injury  offered  to  us  in  the  same  light  as  a  parricide.  Yet 
wickedness  hath  now  reached  such  a  pitch  here  that  I  hardly 
hope  that  the  church  can  be  upheld  much  longer,  at  least  by 
means  of  my  ministry.  Believe  me,  my  power  is  broken,  un- 
jless  God  stretch  forth  His  hand." 
^TThe  concluding  sentences  of  this  letter  afford  a  glimpse  of 
Calvin's  real  feelings  during  these  struggles,  though  he  thought 
it  expedient  to  hide  them,  in  order  that  his  followers  might 
not  be  discouraged.  A  few  days  after  its  date,  an  event  oc- 
curred, which  for  some  time  humbled  his  principal  opponent. 
Perrin's  transactions  with  the  Cardinal  du  Bellay  had  excited 
a  suspicion  against  him  of  entertaining  a  design  to  deliver 
Geneva  into  the  hands  of  the  French.  He  was  accordingly 
arrested  on  a  charge  of  treason,  and  of  intending  to  quarter 
two  hundred  French  cavalry,  under  his  own  command,  in 
Geneva.  For  this  offense  he  was  capitally  indicted,  and  but 
for  the  mediation  of  the  Bernese  it  would  probably  have  gone 
hard  with  him ;  as  the  council  paid  no  attention  to  his  excuse 
that  he  had  accepted  the  command  of  these  troops  with  the 
reservation  of  the  approval  of  the  Genevese  government,  nor 
to  his  declarations  that  he  had  no  design  against  Geneva. 
The  embassadors  of  Berne  endeavored  to  divert  the  storm 
from  the  head  of  Perrin  to  that  of  a  Frenchman  residing  at 
Geneva,  named  le  Magnifique  Maigret,  whom  they  accused 


ATTEMPTS  AT  ACCOMMODATION.  189 

of  the  same  designs  as  were  imputed  to  Perriii :  but  the  latter 
was  expelled  I'rom  the  council,  and  the  office  of  captain-general 
was  suppressed.^  The  mediation  of  the  Bernese  procured, 
however,  the  release  of  Perrin's  wife  and  father-in-law,  but  on 
condition  of  making  their  submission,  and  acknowledging  their 
fault  before  the  consistory ;  and  through  the  same  mediation 
i^errin  himself  was  also  released  on  the  29th  of  November.^ 

Shortly  after  these  events  a  sort  of  truce  was  patched  up 
between  the  parties,  but  in  which  Calvin  had  no  confidence 
from  the  beginning.  Writing  to  Farel  on  the  2d  of  December, 
1547,  he  says  :^  "As  you  exhort  me  and  my  colleagues  to 
persevere  courageously,  I  must  tell  you  that  neither  dangers 
nor  troubles  daunt  me ;  but,  as  in  the  midst  of  these  confusions 
I  am  sometimes  at  a  loss  how  to  act,  I  wish  that  God  would 
grant  me  my  dismissal.  A  foolish  wish,  you  will  say.  I 
know  it.  But  Moses — that  remarkable  example  of  patience 
— did  he  not  complain  that  too  heavy  a  burden  was  laid  on 
his  shoulders  ?  But  though  these  thoughts  trouble  me,  they 
do  not  obtain  my  approval.  We  have  frightened  our  oppo- 
nents a  little,  yet  they  show  no  signs  of  amendment.  Such 
is  their  impudence,  that  they  receive  all  our  reproaches  with 
deafness ;  in  short.  I  think  many  are  incurable.  We  have 
hitherto  tried  all  means  without  success :  the  last  act  remains, 
at  which  I  should  like  you  to  be  present.  I  suppose  Viret 
told  you  what  a  serious  tumult  the  Lord  hath  quelled,  for  I 
wrote  an  account  of  the  matter  to  him.  The  Two  Hundred 
have  appointed  me  and  ten  other  persona  to  arrange  these 
disputes.  Our  qidevant  Csssar  denied  that  he  entertained  any 
grudge  against  me,  and  I  immediately  met  him  more  than 
half  way.  I  addressed  him  in  a  grave  and  moderate  speech, 
using,  indeed,  some  sharp  reproofs,  but  not  of  a  nature  to 
wound  ;  yet  though  he  grasped  my  hand  while  promising  to 
reform,  I  still  fear  that  I  have  spoken  to  the  deaf.  I  wish 
you  could  cheer  me  again  by  coming  hither.  Some,  I  am 
aware,  have  complained  to  Viret  of  my  immoderate  asperity. 
I  know  not  whether  he  believes  the  charge ;  but  I  suspect  he 
thinks  that  I  indulge  my  warmth  too  much.  I  have  invited 
him  hither ;  for,  as  the  man  says  in  Terence,  '  Si  Mc  esses 
aliter  sentires;'  so  might  I  likewise  exclaim,  'If  thou  wert  I, 
I  am  not  certain  of  what  thou  wouldst  do,'  But  this  must 
be  swallowed  with  the  rest  of  my  bitter  draughts." 

On  the  10th  of  January  following,  the  ministers  appeared 

'  See  Registers,  Oct.  9th,  in  Grenus,  Fragmcns  Biographiques. 
2  Ruchat,  V.  324-326.  3  Ep.  83. 


190  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

before  the  council  of  Two  Hundred,  and  made  some  grave 
remonstrances  as  to  the  divisions  and  animosities  w^hich  pre- 
vailed in  the  city,  recommending  the  magistrates  to  effect  a 
reconciliation  among  themselves,  and  to  live  together  in  peace. 
This  had  such  an  effect,  that  some  even  proposed,  for  the  sake 
of  conciliating  matters,  that  Perrin  should  he  restored  to  his 
dignities. 

But  this  truce  proved  a  hollow  one ;  though  Perrin  behaved 
quietly  for  some  time,  with  the  design  of  paving  his  way  to 
the  syndicate,  which  he  actually  obtained  in  the  following 
year,  1549.  Meanwhile  we  find  Calvin  engaged  in  two  or 
three  collisions  with  the  council.  On  the  9th  of  July,  he  and 
another  minister  were  admonished  by  that  body,  for  their  vio- 
lence in  the  pulpit,  which,  however,  they  would  not  consent 
to  abandon.^  As  their  violence  in  this  instance  appears  to 
have  been  directed  against  the  disorders  of  the  Genevese 
youth,  it  can  hardly  be  condemned  as  culpable,  though  it 
might  have  been  injudicious  :  but  the  license  which  Calvin 
and  others  allowed  themselves  in  attacking  the  constituted 
authorities  from  the  pulpit,  was  highly  reprehensible.  For 
these  attacks  they  were  summoned  several  times  before  the 
council,  who  admonished  them  to  abstain  from  them  ;  and 
told  them  that  if  they  had  any  complaints  to  make,  they 
should  be  made  in  private.^  An  accident  which  happened 
to  Calvin  in  this  year,  brought  him  into  a  serious  dilemma 
with  that  body.  He  had  intrusted  to  Viret's  servant  a  letter 
containing  many  complaints  against  the  Genevese  council ;  in 
which,  among  other  things,  he  said  that  they  wanted  to  govern 
without  God,  and  that  he  had  to  combat  their  hypocrisy.^ 
This  letter  was  handed  to  the  syndics ;  and  Calvin,  writing 
to  Farel,  respecting  the  matter,  10th  of  August,  1548,  says  :* 
"  So  far  as  I  can  conclude  from  what  is  reported  to  me,  my 
letter  has  been  handed  to  the  council,  in  which  the  following 
is  the  worst  passage  :  '  Our  people,  under  pretense  of  Christ, 
want  to  rule  without  him.'  They  are  of  opinion  that  this  is 
a  deadly  arrow  that  I  have  shot  against  them.  But  I  am 
prepared  to  suffer  any  kind  of  death,  if  I  serve  but  the  cause 
of  truth."      One  Troillet,  who  owed  Calvin  a  grudge,  and 

1  "Calvin  ayant  blame  certains  desordres  avec  une  trop  gi-ande  colere,  et 
un  autre  ministre  ayant  dit  que  la  jeunesse  de  Geneve  vouloit  renverser  la 
religion :  le  Conseil  les  fait  exhorter  a  I'avertir  des  abus  qu'ils  remarquent, 
et  a  ne  pas  crier  en  cbaire  de  cette  maniere." — Rigistres,  9  Juillet,  1548, 
"lis  repondent  que  leur  conscience  y  est  interesse,  et  que  c'est  leur  oter  la 
.liberte  du  ministere." — Ibid.,  12  Juillet.   Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographiques. 

•  Ruchat,  V.  360.  s  Spon,  ii..  ."^l.  *  P.  Henry,  ii.,  443. 


CALVIN  EMBROILED  WITH  THE  COUNCIL.  191 

took  every  opportunity  of  opposing  him,  made  himself  very 
busy  on  this  occasion,  and  translated  the  letter — v^^hich,  how- 
ever, seems  to  have  been  written  some  years  previously  ^ — into 
French,  in  order  to  circulate  it  through  the  city.  This  man, 
a  native  of  Geneva,  where  he  had  led  no  edifying  life,  had 
formerly  retired  into  Burgundy,  and  assumed  the  character 
of  a  hermit.  About  the  year  1545  he  returned  to/Geneva, 
and  putting  on  a  great  appearance  of  sanctity,  endeavored  to 
obtain  an  appointment  as  minister ;  and  by  bribing  some  of 
the  council,  he  had  almost  attained  this  object :  but  Calvin, 
who  saw  through  his  hypocrisy,  and  who  was  likewise  unwill- 
ing that  the  church  discipline  which  he  had  established  should 
be  violated  by  the  interference  of  the  council  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  ministers,  succeeded,  by  his  remonstrances,  in  inducing 
that  body  to  revoke  their  nomination.^  Hence  Troillet's  at- 
tempted revenge.  Calvin  was  summoned  before  the  council ; 
and  the  letter  having  been  produced,  he  was  obliged  to  ac- 
knowledge his  handwriting,  and  to  make  the  best  excuse  he 
could.  The  affair,  however,  threatened  to  produce  serious 
consequences ;  and  Calvin  summoned  his  friends  Farel  and 
Viret,  who  had  previously  visited  Geneva  in  the  spring  of 
the  year,  to  come  and  assist  in  extricating  him  from  the 
dilemma.  The  former  took  much  interest  in  Calvin's  strug- 
gle with  the  Libertines.  He  it  was  who  exhorted  him  to 
write  his  work  against  them ;  and  he  had  himself  v/ritten  a 
sharp  letter  to  Perrin,  which,  however,  only  served  more  to 
embroil  the  fray.  As  the  danger  increased,  he  reminded  Cal- 
vin of  God's  having  called  him  back  to  Geneva ;  and  that  the 
servants  of  the  Lord  are  exposed  to  constant  struggles,  which 
they  must  overcome  through  faith  and  hope.  Might  he  not 
have  added,  charity,  and  completed  the  number  of  the  Christian 
graces  ?  Viret,  too,  though  the  mildness  of  his  temper  led  him 
sometimes  to  disapprove  of  Calvin's  asperity,  remained  always 
attached  to  him  ;  and  thus  the  three  friends  formed  a  sort 
of  spiritual  triumvirate,  which  their  opponents  regarded  with 
jealousy  and  suspicion.^ 

At  first  the  council  seemed  inclined  to  accept  Calvin's  ex- 
cuses, and  to  bury  the  matter  in  oblivion,  as  he  was  not  again 
summoned  on  the  day  that  had  been  appointed ;  but  he  sus- 
pected that  this  was  only  a  trick  of  his  enemies,  in  order  to 
keep  the  accusation  hanging  over  him,  and  to  bring  it  forward 
when  convenient.     He  therefore  wrote  to  Viret  on  the  20th 

'  Ruchat,  v.,  362.  i  Ruchat,  v.,  26.5.     Beza,  Vita  Calv. 

3  Calviir  to  Viret,  May  15th,  1.538.    See  Kirchhofer,  Leben  Farels,  ii.,  83. 


192  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

of  September,  to  the  following  effect :  "  If  I  ever  needed  your 
assistance  it  is  now  more  than  ever  necessary.  If  you  came 
here  and  complained  of  the  injustice  done  you,  adding  that  you 
had  not  deserved  of  this  Republic  that  your  letters  should  be 
stolen,  and  desiring  that  they  should  be  returned  to  you,  the 
affair  might  take  a  better  turn."  ^ 

Viret  obeyed  this  summons,  and  came  to  Geneva,  as  did 
also  Farel.  Calvin's  anticipations  were  not  falsified,  and  he 
was  cited  before  the  council,  to  answer  for  his  offense,  on  the 
8  th  of  October.  From  the  following  entry  in  the  Registers, 
under  date  of  the  15th  of  that  month,  it  would  appear  that 
Viret  had  undertaken  his  friend's  cause  with  so  much  warmth, 
probably  in  demanding  back  his  letters,  as  to  give  offense  to 
the  council :  "  Farel  has  represented  how  much  attached  Cal- 
vin, Viret,  and  himself  have  always  been  to  the  interests  of 
this  city,  and  has  begged  the  council  to  regard  Viret  with  the 
same  eye  as  formerly ;  also  to  have  the  same  esteem  and 
respect  for  Calvin,  whose  merit  was  so  sublime  that  there  was 
no  man  on  earth  who  combated  Antichrist  with  such  efficacy 
of  Jesus  Christ.  He.  likewise  stated  that  he  saw  with  regret 
that  they  had  not  that  deference  for  this  servant  of  God  which 
was  due  to  him."^ 

Notwithstanding  the  interference  of  his  friends,  however, 
Calvin  was  again  cited  before  the  council  on  the  18th  of  Oc- 
tober ;  when  he  was  reprimanded,  and  told  that  in  future  he 
would  do  well  to  consider  better  of  his  duty  toward  the  magis- 
trate. Farel  was  also  present  on  this  occasion;  and  made  a 
speech  for  his  friend,  in  which  he  said  that  the  council  had 
had  little  consideration  for  the  character  and  merits  of  Calvin, 
which  were  so  distinguished  that  it  might  be  affirmed  there 
was  no  man  who  equaled  him  in  learning ;  that  they  should 
not  be  so  nice  as  to  what  he  might  have  said  of  them,  since 
he  had  freely  reproved  even  the  greatest  men,  such  as  Luther, 
Melancthon,  and  others ;  and  that  they  should  not  credit  what 
a  heap  of  worthless  people,  mere  pillars  of  the  public-house, 
whispered  against  so  great  a  man.  This  speech  seems  to 
have  had  the  effect  of  turning  the  reprovers  into  the  reproved ; 
for  it  was  resolved  that  Farel  should  be  thanked  for  it.^ 

Thus  ended  this  affair.  In  November  Perrin  was  restored 
to  his  councilorship  and  to  his  office  of  captain-general,  not- 
withstanding that  the  latter  had  been  legally  abolished. '^     In 

1  See  P.  Henry,  ii.,  449,  note. 

8  See  Grentis,  Fragmens  Biographiques,  under  date. 

3  Ibid.  4  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  185. 


PERRIN  RESTORED  AND  ELECTED  SYNDIC.  193 

a  letter'  to  Viret  in  November,  1548,  Calvin  says  :  "  There 
is  nothing  new  here  except  that  our  comic  Csesar  has  been 
suddenly  restored  to  the  stage  from  which  he  had  been  driven. 
His  friends  availed  themselves  of  the  absence  of  a  great  num- 
ber of  the  members  of  the  council,  and  when  there  were 
scarce  twenty  present,  carried  his  restoration  by  a  majority." 
This  must  have  been  in  the  council  of  Two  Hundred.  This 
event  gave  new  vigor  to  Perrin's  followers.  Early  in  the 
year  they  had  begun  to  distinguish  themselves  by  a  party 
badge,  a  kind  of  cross  worn  over  their  breasts ;  *  and  after 
Perrin's  restoration  they  indulged  in  the  grossest  abuse  of 
Calvin,  and  many,  out  of  hatred  to  him,  refused  to  attend 
the  communion.  The  council  endeavored  to  conciliate  mat- 
ters, and  on  the  18th  of  December  brought  about  an  amnesty 
between  the  principal  parties,  which  was  even  sanctioned  by 
an  oath ;  after  which  ceremony  the  ministers  and  council 
supped  together  in  order  to  obliterate  all  rancor.^  But  Per- 
rin  was  merely  dissembling,  in  order  that  he  might  pave  the 
way  to  the  syndicate,  the  election  for  which  office  was  ap- 
proaching. Calvin  was  not  deceived  by  appearances,  and  in 
a  letter  to  Farel,  dated  on  the  12th  of  December,  expressed 
his  perplexity  and  apprehensions.*  In  the  following  February 
(1549)  Perrin  not  only  obtained  the  syndicate,  but  was  even 
elected  first  syndic,  contrary  to  established  custom.^  But 
before  proceeding  with  Calvin's  struggles  against  his  domestic 
enemies,  we  must  take  a  survey  of  his  labors  at  this  time  in 
the  general  cause  of  the  Church. 

1  Gren.  MS.,  apud  P.  Henry,  ii.,  438,  note. 

2  "  Une  croix  decoupee  sur  leur  pourpoint."     This  had  been  the  old  de- 
vice of  the  Eignots,  or  Eidgenossen,  in  1518  (Ruchat,  i.,  328). 

3  Beza,  who  erroneously  places  Perrin's  restoration  in  the  spring.  \%  ■ 
Calv.,  anno  1548 ;  and  R6gistres,  Oct.  18,  in  Grenus,  Fragmens  Biogra^ 
iques.  ' 

*  Bp.  95.  6  Trechnel. 

I 


■     CHAPTER  VII. 

Work  against  the  Council  of  Trent — Tract  against  judicial  Astrology — The 
Interim — Melancthon's  Concessions — Calvin  blames  Melancthon^— Death 
of  Calvin's  Wife— Beza's  Arrival  at  Geneva — The  Zurich  Consensus — 
Laelius  Socinus — Fetes  abolished  at  Geneva — Calvin's  Tract  De  Scan- 
dalis. 

During  the  course  of  these  annoying,  and  sometimes  dan- 
gerous contests  with  the  Patriot,  or  Libertine  party,  Calvin 
found  time  not  only  to  discharge  his  ordinary  duties  as  pas- 
tor and  lecturer,  but  to  compose  several  works,  and  to  take  an 
active  part,  by  correspondence  and  otherwise,  in  the  general 
affairs  of  the  Protestant  Church.  In  1546  he  either  trans- 
lated, or  caused  to  be  translated,  into  French,  the  ''Loci"  of 
Melancthon,  of  which  the  preface  at  least  is  indubitably 
from  his  pen.^  The  book  appeared  at  Geneva  in  that  year 
under  the  title  of  "  La  Somme  de  Theologie  de  Melancthon.^' 
We  have  already  seen  that  these  two  theologians  were  not 
entirely  agreed  upon  some  points  of  doctrine,  and  especially 
that  respecting  election  and  predestination :  yet  in  his  preface 
Calvin  made  some  considerable  concessions  to  Melancthon's 
opinion  on  this  head,  in  a  remarkable  passage,  which  there 
will  be  occasion  to  produce  in  the  next  chapter. 

In  the  following  year  (1547)  Calvin  brought  out  his  tract, 
addressed  to  the  church  of  Rouen,  against  a  certain  Francis- 
can, a  follower  of  the  Libertines,  and  then  a  prisoner  in  that 
town,  entitled,  "  Contre  un  Franciscain,  Sectateur  des  JEr- 
reurs  des  Liber  tins  ;""  which  piece  may  be  considered  as  an 
Appendix  to  his  former  tract  against  that  sect.  A  more  im- 
portant work,  which  he  published  in  November  of  the  same 
year,  was  that  against  the  proceedings  of  the  Council  of 
Trent,  originally  written  in  Latin,  and  entitled  "  Acta  Synodi 
TridentincB,  cum  Antidoto''  That  council  had  been  assem- 
bled in. the  previous  year;  and  Calvin  prefixed  to  his  book 
the  address  of  the  Pope's  legates  on  opening  the  first  session. 
In  his  preface,  though  he  allows  great  weight  to  councils,  he 
denies  their  infallibility,  and  supports  his  view  by  the  author- 
ty  of  St.  Augustin.  He  then  specially  objects  to  that  of 
Trent,  on  account  of  its  composition.  It  is  argued,  he  says, 
i  P.  Henry,  i.,  376. 


WORK  AGAINST  THE  COUNCIL  OF  TRENT.  195 

that  a  council  can  not  err,  because  it  represents  the  Church. 
But  what  if  I  deny  this  argument  ?  This  council,  he  con- 
tinues, consists  of  some  forty  bishops,  of  whom  even  the 
warmest  patrons  of  such  assemblies  must  be  heartily  ashamed. 
Passing  over  the  prelates  of  other  nations,  he  confines  himself 
to  the  representatives  of  France,  the  Bishops  of  Nantes  and 
Clermont ;  both  of  whom  he  describes  as  equally  ignorant 
and  stupid,  and  as  unacquainted  with  even  the  very  rudiments 
of  theology  :  the  latter,  moreover,  as  infamous  and  despicable 
for  his  dissolute  life.  He  then  attacks  the  monkish  portion 
of  the  council ;  and  affirms  that  there  is  no  school  of  theology 
so  wretched  but  what  must  despise  all  the  doctors  of  Trent. 
But  were  its  members  angels,  they  were  all  dependent  on  the 
nod  of  the  Pope  :  for  every  decree  was  sent  off  post  to  Rome, 
where  it  Avas  mangled  and  altered  to  suit  the  views  of  the 
pontiff  and  his  advisers.  "  The  couriers  return  ;  a  session  is 
proclaimed  ;  the  notary  reads  something  which  nobody  dares 
to  impugn  ;  the  asinine  tribe  signify  their  assent  with  their 
ears.  Behold  the  oracle  which  is  to  bind  the  religion  of  all 
the  world  I"^  He  then  proceeds  to  give,  in  the  body  of  his 
tract,  the  decrees  of  the  several  sessions,  with  remarks  upon 
them. 

Tills  piece  occupied  Calvin  two  or  three  months,  and  was 
composed  amid  those  struggles  with  his  opponents  which 
have  been  related  in  the  preceding  chapter.  Writing  to 
Farel  on  the  21st  of  August,  1547,  he  says  :  "  I  have  begun 
my  attack  on  the  Tridentine  Fathers,  but  the  work  proceeds 
slowly,  for  I  have  not  a  single  hour  free  from  interruptions."  * 
When  it  was  published  he  forwarded  a  copy  to  Farel,  who 
sat  up  all  night  to  read  it.^  Such  was  his  admiration  of 
Calvin's  literary  talents.  Farel  also  dispatched  a  letter  to 
Calvin,  conveying  his  warm  approval  of  the  work,  respecting 
the  success  of  which  the  latter  seems  to  have  entertained 
some  apprehensions ;  for  in  his  reply  he  says  :  "  I  begin  to 
like  my  '  Antidote,'  now  I  find  that  you  approve  of  it  so  much, 
for  before  I  was  not  satisfied  with  it.  It  may  be  that  you, 
who  know  my  daily  labors,  and  the  contests  by  which  I  am 
exhausted,  are  led  to  pardon  the  more  imperfect  parts ;  but, 
for  myself,  I  am  surprised  how  I  can  at  this  time  pubhsh  any 
thing  readable.""* 

Calvin's  tract  was  answered,  on  the  part  of  the  papists,  by 
Cochlseus.     In  the  following  year,  he  re-published  it  in  French, 

1  Calvin,  Opera,  viii.,  221,  A.  2  Ep.  81. 

3  Kirchhofer,  ii.,  91.  *  Ep.  83.,  Dec.  28tb,  1547. 


laS  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ill  a  more  popular  form,  omitting  many  learned  references  and 
allusions.^ 

In  1548,  Calvin  published  his  "Commentaries  on  six  of 
St.  Paul's  Epistles,  viz.,  Corinthians,  Ephesians,  Galatians, 
Philippians,  Colossians,  and  Timothy."^  In  the  follovi^ing 
year  appeared  his  tract  against  judicial  astrology,  "  Admonitio 
adversus  Astrologiam  quam  judiciarum  vocantf'  a  work 
which  shows  that  Calvin  was  much  in  advance  of  his  age  on 
such  points,  when  some  of  the  most  enlightened  minds  were 
not  free  from  that  superstition.  Melancthon,  in  particular, 
was  a  slave  to  it.^  What  rendered  it  more  difficult  for  Cal- 
vin to  refute  this  pretended  science  was,  that  he  was  unac- 
quainted with  the  true  system  of  the  universe.  Though  the 
work  of  Copernicus  was  written  in  1530,  it  was  some  years 
before  it  became  known ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  beginning  of 
the  following  century  that  Galileo  first  ventured  to  adopt  his 
system.  Beza,  in  his  work  on  the  plague,  shows  that  he  had 
heard  of  it,  but  considered  it  a  paradox ;  and  in  the  last 
edition  of  his  "  Institutes,"  Calvin  still  considers  the  heavens 
as  turning  round  the  earth."*  This  erroneous  system  favored 
astrology,  inasmuch  as  it  made  the  heavens  appear  only  sub- 
sidiary to  the  earth ;  and  thus  occasioned  a  difficulty  which 
Calvin  found  it  hard  to  meet.  The  astrologers  defended  their 
views  by  the  circumstance  that  the  prophet  Jeremiah  calls 
the  stars  signs;  and  confirmed  their  argument  by  appealing 
to  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  A  knowledge  of  the  true  sys- 
tem Avould  have  upset  this  reasoning ;  but  Calvin  could  meet 
it  only  by  referring  to  other  texts  of  Scripture,  as  Isaiah,  chap, 
xliv.,  ver.  25,  "  That  frustrateth  the  tokens  of  the  liars,  and 
maketh  diviners  mad  ;"  and  by  entering  into  a  long  argument 
to  show  in  what  sense  Jeremiah  used  the  word  signs.^  He 
was  of  opinion  that  they  do  not  denote  when  we  should  put 
on  a  new  garment,  nor  whether  we  should  transact  our  busi- 
ness on  Monday  rather  than  Tuesday  or  Wednesday,  and 
things  of  the  like  sort ;  but  whether  we  should  sow,  let 
blood,  take  physic,  or  prune  our  trees,  &c.  :  for  though  he  dis- 
believed judicial  astrology,  he  thought  that  our  bodies,  as  well 
as  other  natural  objects,  had  some  sympathy  with  the  stars, 

1  p.  Henry,  ii.,  30.5.  2  7^,^^.,  p.  379. 

3  Matthes,  Lehen  Melancihons,  p.  410.  Socinus,  writing  to  Bullinger  from 
Wittenberg,  August  28th,  1550,  says  :  "  All  depend  upon  Melancthon  alone, 
who  is  so  addicted  to  judicial  astrology,  that  I  know  not  on  which  he  most 
depends,  the  stars,  or  their  Maker  and  Huler."  See  Trechsel,  Antilr.,  ii., 
154,  note. 

*  P.  Henry,  ii.,  392.  s  Calvin,  Opera,  viii.,  505,  B. 


THE  INTERIM.  197 

and  that  a  knowledge  of  the  latter  was  useful  in  medicine 
and  agriculture.  So  difficult  is  it  even  for  the  most  vigorous 
understandings,  when  unaided  by  the  light  of  science,  to  shake 
off  ancient  prejudices  in  such  matters.  He  was  also  of  opin- 
ion that  some  meaning  might  be  attached  to  comets.  Be- 
sides astrology — which  he  thinks  the  revival  of  polite  letters, 
if  not  the  gospel,  should  have  put  an  end  to — Calvin  also 
ridicules  the  alchemists  in  this  tract ;  in  the  course  of  which 
he  exhibits  considerable  profane  learning,  referring  frequently 
to  Greek  and  Roman  history,  and  quoting  Terence,  Aris- 
tophanes, and  other  authors. 

In  1549,  Calvin  also  published  his  tract  against  the  Interim,, 
The  Emperor  Charles  V.  having  overthrown  the  Smalcaldic 
league,  and  reduced  its  leaders,  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and 
the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  to  submission,  found  himself  enabled 
to  dictate  the  footing  on  which  rehgion  should  be  placed 
throughout  the  empire  :  a  step  to  which  he  was  still  further 
prompted  by  a  desire  of  mortifying  the  Pope,  at  whom  he 
was  offended  for  having  transferred  to  Bologna  the  sittings  of 
the  council  which  had  been  assembled  at  Trent.  The  system 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Interim,  and  which  was  to  be  the 
rule  of  religious  practice  till  the  decision  of  a  general  council, 
was  laid  before  the  diet  assembled  at  Augsburg  on  the  15th 
of  May,  1548.  The  Elector  Joachim  II.,  of  Brandenburgh, 
is  thought  to  have  had  a  great  share  in  bringing  it  about ;  at 
all  events,  his  court  preacher,  John  Agricola,  who  passed  for 
a  Protestant,  but  was  suspected  of  having  been  bribed,  was 
one  of  the  three  persons  concerned  in  drawing  it  up ;  the 
other  two  being  Roman  Catholics,  namely,  Pflug  and  Michael 
Holding,  titular  bishop  of  Sidon.  The  only  concessions  of 
any  importance  made  to  the  Protestants  were  the  celebration 
of  the  communion  in  both  kinds,  and  permission  for  married 
priests  to  retain  their  wives.  Few  of  the  princes  assembled 
at  Auofsburg  ventured  to  oppose  the  promulgation  of  the  In- 
terim ;  but  the  Elector  Maurice  entered  a  protest  against  it. 
Throughout  the  greater  part  of  Germany  it  was  received 
with  indignation.  Hesse  and  ducal  Saxony,  Hamburgh, 
Bremen,  Lubec,  Luneberg,  rejected  it;  at  Magdeburg,  it 
was  abused  and  ridiculed  ;  Strasburgh  held  out  against  it  for 
a  considerable  time ;  and  Constance  it  was  necessary  to  reduce 
to  obedience  by  force  of  arms.^ 

The  correspondence  of  Calvin  and  his  friends  at  this  period 
indicates  the  alarm  which  this  measure  had  excited.     Myco- 

1  Hobertson.  Charles  V.,  b.  ix.    Matthes,  Leben  Melanc,  p.  285,  et  seq, 


198  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

nius,  a  minister  of  Basle,  writing  to  him  on  the  18th  of  August, 
1548,  says :  "  The  imperial  Interim  has  been  established  in 
Suabia,  and  is  now  impending  over  the  inhabitants  of  Con- 
stance. I  have  for  some  time  feared  that,  through  them,  the 
emperor  will  annoy  us  also  with  this  unrighteous  measure. 
On  the  4th  of  August  white  linen  surplices  were  sent  to  eack 
of  the  ministers  of  Augsburg  by  the  new  council,  and  they 
were  ordered  always  to  wear  them  when  preaching.  Those, 
however,  were  excluded  from  the  gift  who  had  not  been  pre- 
viously anointed.  They  were  also  compelled  to  swear  that 
they  would  utter  nothing  against  his  imperial  majesty,  nor 
against  the  Interim,  on  pain  of  condign  punishment.  A  plain 
token  of  what  liberty  is  left  to  preach  the  Gospel  I  At  Nu- 
remberg there  is  said  to  be  only  one  mass-priest,  who  is  sur- 
rounded with  guards  when  going  to  or  returning  from  church, 
and,  when  performing  mass,  in  order  to  preserve  him  from  in- 
jury. So  much  braver  are  people  there  than  at  Augsburg  I 
The  Strasburghers  still  hold  out,  but  I  know  not  how  long  it 
will  last.  Many  of  the  chief  people-  are  said  to  be  emigrat- 
ing, &c."^ 

More  than  four  hundred  pastors  are  said  to  have  been  ex- 
pelled from  Suabia  and  the  Rhenish  provinces  for  refusing  the 
Interim.^  Among  those  placed  in  a  painful  and  dangerous 
position  by  its  progress,  was  Martin  Bucer,  who,  as  is  well 
known,  was  at  length  obliged  to  fly  from  Strasburgh  to  En- 
gland ;  where  he  was  appointed  professor  of  divinity  at  the 
University  of  Cambridge.  The  candor  and  moderation  of 
Bucer's  mind,  to  which  Erasmus  frequently  bore  his  willing 
testimony  ;  ^  his  ardent  wish  to  see  those  difficulties  reconciled 
which  separated  the  Swiss  and  Lutheran  churches  ;  as  well 
as  his  personal  friendship  for  Luther,  whom  he  accompanied 
in  his  critical  appearance  at  Worms,  in  1521  ;  may  perhaps 
have  led  him  to  adopt  terms  too  lax  and  ambiguous  with  re- 
gard to  disputed  points  of  doctrine,  and  thus  to  incur  the 
hatred  and  suspicion  of  many  :*  but  his  conduct  on  this  occa- 

1  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  84. 

2  M.  Adamus,  Vita  Melancthonis,  p.  344. 

3  M.  Adamus,  Vita  Buceri,  p.  213. 

*  Hence  Calvin  exhorts  Bucer,  when  in  England,  to  use  his  endeavors 
with  the  Protector  for  a  further  Reformation,  in  order  to  clear  himself  from 
such  suspicions  :  "I  especially  recommend  this  to  you,  in  order  that  you 
may  free  yourself  from  the  ill-will  with  which,  as  you  are  aware,  you  are 
unjustly  regarded  by  many ;  for  they  always  name  you  as  the  author  or 
abettor  of  temporizing  counsels.  I  know  that  this  suspicion  is  too  deeply 
fixed  in  the  minds  of  some  to  be  easily  eradicated,  whatever  may  be  your 
efforts."— E p.  93. 


THE  INTERIM.  199 

sion  in  flying  from  Strasburgh  rather  than  adopt  the  new  sys- 
tem, shows  that  he  was  not  disposed  to  make  any  compromises 
at  the  expense  of  his  conscience.  The  Elector  of  Branden- 
burgh  and  the  Palatine,  knowing  his  pacific  disposition,  had 
sent  for  him,  in  the  hope  that  he  might  be  induced  to  subscribe 
the  Interim,  and  thus,  by  his  example,  lead  others  to  do  so 
likewise  ;  but  Bucer,  after  examining  it,  refused  to  put  his 
name  to  it. 

It  was  natural  that  Calvin  should  feel  much  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  Bucer  and  the  church  of  Strasburgh,  with  which  he 
had,  for  a  considerable  period,  been  so  closely  connected.  His 
correspondence  with  Bucer  grew  very  frequent  at  this  time  ; 
and  the  latter  seems  to  have  derived  much  benefit  from  his 
consolation  and  advice.  Writing  to  him,  on  the  30th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1548,  Bucer  says  :  "  We  have  not  yet  made  up  our 
minds  here.  Our  folks  besought  the  emperor  to  leave  us  at 
least  a  few  churches  for  the  service  of  pure  religion,  but  he 
has  peremptorily  refused  their  request.  What  they  will  do 
God  knows  :  nothing  but  a  miracle  can  save  us.  I  beseech 
you,  pray  for  us."^  In  another  letter,  dated  on  the  9th  of 
January,  1549,  Bucer  mentions  that  the  richer  citizens  threat- 
ened to  leave  Strasburgh  unless  the  emperor  were  conciliated  : 
and  that  more  than  fifty  had  already  done  so.^  In  a  third 
letter,  written  on  the  7th  of  February,  he  says  :  "  Ofier  up 
your  prayers,  my  excellent  brethren,  for  the  remnant  of  our 
church  and  ministry  !  The  bishop  hath  exacted  a  promise 
that  preaching  against  the  Interim  shall  not  be  allowed  here  ; 
and  consequently  the  ministry  of  myself  and  chief  colleagues, 
will  be  at  an  end,  if  not  to-day,  at  least  very  shortly.  My 
affairs  are  all  in  readiness  ;  and  therefore,  though  the  Lord 
hath  not  yet  signified  the  time  of  my  departure,  pray  to  him 
fervently  that  he  may  both  point  it  out  and  conduct  me."^ 
In  this  letter  he  represents  many  parishes  as  already  destitute 
of  ministers,  and  considers  it  probable  that  the  directions  of 
the  Bishop  of  Spires  would  be  followed  ;  "^  namely,  that  those 
who  refused  to  be  ordained  by  the  bishop,  or  who,  being  or- 
dained, were  unwilling  to  serve  in  the  churches  in  the  man- 
ner prescribed  by  the  Interim,  should  be  sent  to  the  galleys. 
From  another  letter,  dated  on  the  20th  of  the  same  month,^ 
it  appears  that  the  bishop  would  allow  the  Strasburgh  minis- 
ters only  a  fortnight  for  deliberation.  Meanwhile,  Bucer  was 
apprehensive  that  the  emperor  might  command  their  deten- 

1  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  85.  =  Ep.  96,  ^  Ep.  98. 

*  Whom  he  calls  rcapaaKOTcov  for  knLaKonov.  *  Ep.  100, 


200  LIFE  OP   JOHN  QALVIN. 

tion  out  of  anger  at  the  desertion  of  so  many  churches.  He 
was  resolved,  however,  not  to  desert  his  congregation  till  forced 
to  do  so  ;  nor  had  he  yet  determined  whither  he  should  bend 
his  steps,  provided  he  were  allowed  to  fly :  but  he  expresses 
a  hope  of  being  able  to  visit  Calvin  before  proceeding  fur- 
ther.^ 

Though  it  was  forbidden  to  write  against  the  Interim  under 
pain  of  death,  no  fewer  than  thirty-seven  attacks  upon  it  ap- 
peared, including  that  of  Calvin,^  whose  situation  at  Geneva 
did  not  expose  him  to  any  great  risk  of  incurring  the  penalty. 
From  a  letter  to  Farel,  dated  on  the  10th  of  August,  1548,^ 
it  appears  that  Calvin  had  been  exhorted  to  undertake  this 
task  by  Bullinger,  but  that  he  had  referred  the  matter  to  the 
judgment  of  Bucer.  Bullinger  himself  was  among  those  who 
entered  the  lists  on  this  occasion,  at  the  instance  of  several 
illustrious  persons,  and  particularly  of  George  duke  of  Wiirt- 
emberg,  and  count  of  Montbelliard.^  Calvin's  enemies  at 
Geneva  appear  to  have  opposed  the  publication  of  his  book. 
Writing  to  Farel,  on  the  12th  of  December,  1548,  he  observes : 
"  I  have  at  length  shamed  my  opponents  into  a  permission  to 
publish  my  book,  and  the  whole  matter  has  been  left  to  my 
judgment  and  good  faith.  But  when  I  compare  and  reflect 
upon  the  insults  which  our  brethren  have  to  endure,  I  almost 
seem  to  myself  to  be  only  playing  an  amusing  game  in  the 
shade. ^  His  work  consists  of  a  detailed  attack  on  the  differ- 
ent heads  of  Catholic  doctrine.^ 

Saxony,  under  the  guidance  of  the  elector,  Maurice,  bent 
before  the  storm,  and  thus  escaped  the  evils  which  afflicted 
the  southern  states  of  Germany.  Melancthon's  conduct  had 
at  first  excited  the  displeasure  of  the  emperor,  but  Maurice 
supported  him  on  this  occasion.  The  concessions  which  that 
Reformer  afterward  made  led  to  the  adiaphoristic  controversy, 
or  dispute  concerning  things  indifferent.  Some  attempt  at 
accommodation  was  made  in  what  was  called  the  Leipsig 
Interim,  in  December,  1548.  The  Saxons,  however,  did  not 
finally  resolve  as  to  what  parts  of  the  imperial  Interim  they 
should  observe,  till  the  1st  of  May  in  the  following  year,  in  a 

i  One  of  Calvin's  letters  to  Bucer  at  this  period  (Ep.  94)  contains  an  ele- 
gant parallel  between  the  Christian  religion  and  heathen  philosophy. 

2  P.  Henry,  ii.,  370. 

3  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  ii.,  370. 

*  Ruchat,  V.  350.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  BuUinger's  work 
was  printed.  ^  gp.  95. 

6  Its  title  is,  '^'^ Interim  ad-uUero-Germanum.  Cui  adjecta  eat:  Vera 
Chrinfitjrife  Pacificationh  ct  Ecclesice  Reformandce  Ratio."     8vo.,  1549. 


MELANOTHON'S  CONCESSIOx\S.  201 

conventus,  or  synod,  held  at  Grimma  ;  the  resolutions  adopted 
at  which  were  published  in  the  following  July.'  Melancthon 
has  been  much  blamed  for  the  course  which  he  pursued  in 
this  conjuncture,  and  Calvin  himself  was  one  of  his  censurers. 
But  Melancthon  was  placed  in  a  very  delicate  and  difficult 
situation ;  and  an  unprejudiced  examination  of  his  conduct 
will  show  that  his  line  of  action  was  the  best,  not  only  for  his 
country,  but  also  for  the  Saxon  church.  Let  us  hear  how  he 
himself  explains  his  motives,  in  a  letter  to  Joachim  MoUer,  in 
September,  1549  :  "  I  have  frequently  advised,"  he  says, 
"  that  no  alterations  should  be  made,  because  people  immedi- 
ately exclaim  that  we  wish  to  persecute  the  gospel.  But  the 
court  insists  on  some  concessions  to  the  emperor,  in  order  that 
he  may  not  send  an  army  into  the  country  and  oppress  the 
church  here,  as  he  has  done  in  Suabia.  I  know  not  whether 
we  shall  satisfy  him  by  restoring  some  indifierent  ceremonies  ; 
but  the  courtiers  say  so,  and  press  upon  us  the  necessity  of 
not  exposing  both  our  country  and  our  church  to  desolation 
for  such  trifles.  We  therefore  confine  ourselves  to  contending 
only  for  necessary  things,  as  purity  of  doctrine,  and  the  form 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  ;  in  order  that  the  Popish  mass  may 
not  be  introduced  among  us,  as  in  Suabia.  But  I  have  never 
contended  about  festivals,  the  order  of  the  Psalms,  and  the 
like  ;  which,  in  my  opinion,  would  not  become  a  modest  serv- 
ant of  the  church  in  th'ese  sad  times.  Some  there  are,  indeed, 
who  will  not  hear  of  any  order,  especially  of  laws  ;  but  this 
is  being  more  than  unmannerly.  For  several  years  previously, 
I  have  wished  that  some  of  the  ceremonies  now  proposed 
should  be  introduced  into  our  church ;  for  such  a  conformity, 
in  outward  things,  is  favorable  to  unity :  though  here  also  a 
medium  must  be  observed  ;  and  therefore,  in  necessary  things, 
we  make  absolutely  no  alteration."^ 

Such  is  the  account  which  Melancthon  gives  of  his  motives, 
with  which,  probably,  no  reasonable  and  moderate  man  will 
be  inchned  to  find  fault.  Nevertheless  he  was  assailed  from 
various  quarters.  The  severest  attacks  proceeded  from  Mag- 
deburg, where  a  young  man  named  Matthias  Flaccius,  out 
of  spite,  as  Melancthon  suspected,  that  he  had  not  obtained 
a  vacant  professorship  at  Wittenberg,  had,  with  his  friends 
the  exiled  bishop  Armsdorf,  the  deacon  Matthew  Judex,  Nich- 
olas -Gallus,  and  some  others,  erected  what  was  called  The 
Chancery  of  God  ;  a  body  which  sent  forth  one  abusive  tract 

1  Matthes,  Leben  Mdanclhons,  p.  305. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  308. 

I* 


S02  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

after  another  against  the  Saxon  theologians,  an  ■  particularly 
Melancthon,  for  having  complied  with  some  parts  of  the  im- 
perial Interim.^  Melancthon  took  no  notice  of  these  attacks 
till  toward  the  end  of  1549  ;  and  then  answered  with  great 
moderation.  Flaccius  replied  by  publishing  a  number  of  let- 
ters which  Melancthon  had  written  to  Luther  during  the  diet 
of  Augsburg  in  1530,  in  order  to  show  the  world  what  a  timid, 
pusillanimous  man  he  was,  and  accompanied  them  with  many 
bitter  annotations.^ 

It  is,  however,  for  the  opinion  of  Calvin,  that  we  are  here 
more  particularly  concerned.  In  a  letter  to  Valentine  Pacseus,^ 
a  Leipsic  doctor,  he  expressed  his  fears  of  the  dissensions 
which  these  disputes  about  things  indifferent  would  introduce 
into  the  church  ;  a  foreboding  which  was  destined  to  be  real- 
ized in  an  unhappy  manner  in  that  of  England.  To  Melanc- 
thon himself  he  addressed,  in  1551,  a  letter  of  free  expostu- 
lation;  in  which,  after  adverting  to  the  scandal  which  the 
contests  with  the  Magdeburghers  occasioned  to  the  whole 
Protestant  Church,  and  expressing  his  opinion  that  Melanc- 
thon was  not  wholly  free  from  blame,  he  says  :  "  The  sum 
of  your  defense  amounts  to  this,  that  provided  purity  of  doc- 
trine be  retained,  we  should  not  pertinaciously  contend  re- 
specting outward  things.  But  if  what  I  hear  every  where 
asserted  be  true,  you  extend  the  boundaries  of  things  indiffer- 
ent too  widely.  You  are  aware  that  the  worship  of  God  has 
been  adulterated  by  the  Papists  in  a  thousand  ways.  The 
more  intolerable  of  these  corruptions  we  have  removed ;  but 
now  the  ungodly,  to  achieve  a  triumph  over  the  vanquished 
gospel,  command  that  they  shall  be  restored.  Do  you  call  it 
obstinacy  if  any  one  hesitates  to  comply  ?  That,  I  am  sure, 
is  quite  foreign  to  the  modesty  of  your  temper ;  and,  if  you 
have  betrayed  some  weakness  in  complying,  you  should  not  be 
surprised  if  many  blame  you  for  it.  Besides,  some  of  these 
things  which  you  call  indiflferent  are  manifestly  at  variance 
with  the  word  of  God.  On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be,  as  is 
usual  in  such  disputes,  that  some  persons  urge  certain  things 
with  too  much  preciseness  ;  and  regard  others  in  which,  after 
all,  there  is  no  such  great  harm,  with  too  much  detestation. 
Still,  if  my  opinion  is  worth  any  thing  in  religious  matters, 
you  should  not  have  conceded  so  much  to  the  Papists  ;  partly 
because  you  have  relaxed  what  is  fixed  by  the  hand  of  Qod ; 
partly  because  you  have  occasioned  the  gospel  to  be  scandal- 

^  Matthes,  Leben  Melancthons,  p.  306. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  311.  3  Ep.  115. 


CALVIN  BLAMES  MELANOTHON.  203 

ously  insulted I  do  not  see  your  drift  when  you  say 

that  the  Magdeburghers  are  only  quarreling  about  a  linen 
vest.  I  think  that  the  use  of  the  suplice  is  one  of  the  many 
absurdities  hitherto  retained  among  you  ;  but  good  and  pious 
men  every  where  loudly  proclaim  that  yoic  have  likewise  ad- 
mitted still  grosser  corruptions,  and  which  manifestly  tend  to 
vitiate  purity  of  doctrine,  and  to  overthrow  the  church.  Let 
me  recall  to  your  memory  what  I  once  said  to  you,  if  you 
forget  it :  that  it  would  be  making  ink  too  precious  if  we  hes- 
itated to  testify  by  our  writings  that  which  so  many  martyrs 
of  the  common  class  daily  seal  with  their  blood.  I  spoke  this 
when  we  seemed  far  out  of  the  reach  of  danger  ;  and  now  that 
the  Lord  hath  brought  us  into  the  arena,  we  ought  to  strive 
the  more  manfully.  Your  case,  you  are  aware,  is  very  differ- 
ent from  that  of  the  common  herd  ;  for  it  is  more  ignomini- 
ous in  the  general  even  to  tremble,  than  it  is  for  the  common 
soldier  to  fly ;  and  though  the  timidity  of  others  should  be 
pardoned,  every  one  will  say  that  the  vacillation  of  a  man 
like  yourself  is  not  to  be  borne.  Thus  you  alone,  by  yielding 
only  a  little,  have  excited  more  complaints  and  regrets  than 
the  open  defection  of  a  hundred  ordinary  people.  And  though 
I  am  thoroughly  persuaded  that  it  is  not  the  fear  of  death 
that  has  driven  you  to  swerve  one  iota  from  the  right  line, 
yet  I  suspect  that  apprehensions  of  another  sort  may  possibly 
have  biased  your  mind.  The  detestation  with  which  you 
regard  inhumanity  and  rigor  is  well  known  to  me  ;  but  you 
should  recollect  that  the  servants  of  Christ  are  bound  to  have 
as  much  care  of  their  reputation  as  of  their  life."  ^ 

Calvin,  in  the  last  sentence,  seems  to  have  touched  the 
real  spring  which  actuated  Melancthon.  It  was  easy  for 
him,  a  sojourner  in  a  strange  city,  where  he  was  out  of  the 
reach  of  danger,  and  where  he  owned  no  superior,  to  lecture 
his  brother  Reformer  on  the  duty  of  firmness ;  and  some  of 
his  remarks,  taken  in  a  general  sense,  are  excellent ;  but  he 
makes  not  the  least  allowance  for  the  various  feelings  which 
must  have  been  at  work  within  Melancthon.  The  latter  had 
to  listen  at  once  to  the  dictates  of  loyalty  and  patriotism  ;  to 
consult  the  commands  of  his  sovereign  and  the  interests  of  his 
country ;  and  to  avert,  by  timely  concession  in  some  minor 
points,  that  entire  overthrow  of  the  Protestant  Church,  by 
force  of  arms,  which  had  taken  place  in  many  parts  of  south- 
ern Germany.  These  were  the  motives  which  led  him  to 
submit  in  silence  to  some  alterations  which  he  did  not  quite 
1  See  Ep.  117. 


204  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

approve,  and  which  had  been  introduced  by  the  council  of  the 
elector/  But  what  a  prospect  do  these  squabbles  hold  out 
for  the  future  union  of  the  Protestant  Church  I  A  silly  and 
scandalous,  we  had  almost  said  a  childish  quarrel  about  a 
surplice  and  a  few  minor  ceremonies,  divides  the  Protestants 
into  hostile  factions  at  the  moment  of  their  most  eminent 
peril  I  With  such  feelings  how  should  they  hope  in  quieter 
times  to  arrange  those  more  serious  questions,  which  turned 
on  really  important  points  of  doctrine  1 

From  one  of  Calvin's  subsequent  letters,^  it  appears  that 
Melancthon  was  so  offended  at  these  remonstrances  as  to  tear 
up  the  letter  which  contained  them  ;  and,  indeed,  Beza  him- 
self acknowledges  that  Calvin  had,  on  this  occasion,  lent  too 
ready  an  ear  to  Melancthon's  accusers,  and  censured  him  un- 
deservedly.^ 

We  will  now  advert  to  some  occurrences  in  the  domestic 
life  of  Calvin.  On  the  5th  of  April,  1549,  he  lost  his  wife. 
As  convenience,  rather  than  affection,  had  prompted  his  mar- 
riage, so  the  death  of  his  partner  does  not  seem  to  have  caused 
him  any  excessive  grief  The  letters,  indeed,  in  which  he  an- 
nounces the  event  to  his  friends,  contain  the  usual  phrases  of 
decent  regret ;  but  his  bereavement  did  not  for  a  moment  di- 
vert him  from  the  ordinary  routine  of  his  occupations.  He 
thus  announces  his  loss  in  a  letter  to  Farel  :*  "  The  news  of 
my  wife's  death  has,  perhaps,  already  reached  you.  I  make 
what  efforts  I  can  to  prevent  being  devoured  by  my  grief,  in 
which  I  am  assisted  by  my  friends,  who  do  all  they  can  to  as- 
suage my  sorrow.  When  your  brother  left  this  place  her  life 
was  already  almost  despaired  of  ....  At  six  o'clock  I  was 
called  from  home  ;  at  seven,  after  being  removed  into  another 
room,  she  immediately  began  to  sink.  Perceiving  her  voice 
failing,  she  requested  the  prayers  of  those  around  her.  About 
this  time  I  returned  ;  and,  though  she  was  speechless,  she  dis- 
covered much  agitation  of  mind.  After  saying  a  few  words 
to  her  about  the  grace  of  Christ,  the  hope  of  eternal  happi- 
ness, our  fellowship  in  life,  and  her  impending  departure,  1 
shut  myself  up  to  pray.  She  had  been  fully  sensible  of  my 
prayers,  and  attentive  to  my  admonitions.  Before  eight  she 
expired,  so  placidly,  that  they  who  were  present  could  scarce 
discern  the  moment  of  her  decease.  I  swallow  my  grief  in 
such  a  manner  that  I  have  not  intermitted  my  functions  for  a 

I  See  his  letter  to  Hardenberg,  quoted  by  Mattbes,  p.  309,  note, 
a  Ep.  141.  3  Beza,  Vita  Calv.,  anno  1549. 

4  Bp.  106,  April  llth. 


DEATH  OF  CALVIN'S  WIFE.  205 

moment.     Nay,  the  Lord  hath,  meanwhile,  exercised  me  with 
other  contests." 

Calvin's  equanimity  on  this  occasion  excited  the  sm'prise  of 
Viret.  In  acknowledging  Calvin's  letter,  conveying  the  intel- 
ligence of  his  wife's  death,  he  says  :  "  What  I  hear  from  many 
credible  witnesses  respecting  your  constancy  and  fortitude 
under  your  domestic  atfliction,  makes  me  think  that  I  should 
address  you  with  congratulations  rather  than  condolence  ;  and 
the  more  so  from  my  intimate  acquaintance  with  what  you 
call  the  tenderness  of  your  mind  ■}  for  that,  I  think,  is  a  more 
fitting  name  for  it  than  softness  ;  a  quality  which  would  pre- 
vent your  acting  as  you  do.  Hence  I  admire  the  more  the 
strength  of  that  Holy  Spirit  which  works  within  you,  mani- 
festing itself  truly^worthy  of  the  name  of  Comforter.  Should 
I  not  acknowledge  its  powers  in  you,  who,  though  you  bear  so 
stoutly  the  bitterest  and  most  touching  of  all  domestic  afflic- 
tions, are  accustomed  to  feel  the  misfortunes  of  others,  as  if 
they  were  your  own  ?  Believe  me,  this  is  no  common  virtue, 
and  no  ordinary  proof  of  God's  mercy  toward  you.  It  makes 
me  the  more  ashamed  of  myself  that,  when  in  the  same  situ- 
ation, I  could  not  show  the  like  fortitude,  nor  even  a  shadow 
of  it :  for  my  calamity  so  overwhelmed  and  prostrated  me, 
that  the  whole  world  seemed  a  solitude ;  nothing  delighted 
me,  nor  tended  to  assuage  my  grief  Often  did  I  accuse  my- 
self for  bearing  my  affliction  with  so  much  less  fortitude  than 
became,  I  will  not  say  the  office  which  I  hold,  but  even  a 
person  who  had  made  the  least  acquaintance  with  that  heav- 
enly wisdom  in  which  I  not  only  professed  myself  a  disciple, 
but  a  teacher  of  others  ;  and  that  I  could  not  apply  to  my 
own  malady  those  remedies  which  I  am  accustomed  to  ad- 
minister to  others  who  are  in  want  of  them.  You,  on  the 
contrary,  are  so  far  from  being  cast  down  and  broken  in  spirit, 
that  you  afford  an  encouraging  example,  by  showing  that  you 
can  act  up  to  the  precepts  which  you  inculcate  ;  and  that  you 
are  not  only  able,  when  unafflicted  yourself,  to  give  sound  a(|,- 
vice  to  the  suffering,  but  to  apply  it  to  your  own  case  in  the 
like  circumstances ;  and  thus  to  have  the  same  sentiments 
both  in  happiness  and  affliction.  I  have  been  incredibly  re- 
lieved by  hearing,  not  merely  from  report,  but  from  eye-wit- 
nesses, that  you  discharge  all  the  duties  of  your  office  with  an 
unbroken  spirit,  and  as  efficiently,  nay,  with  even  more  suc- 
cess, than  before  ;  and  that  you  have  retained  such  a  mastery 
over  yourself  in  the  consistory,  in  the  pulpit,  in  a  word,  in  all 

'  Calvin  had  said,  "  Nost.i  aninii  moi  toneritadinern,  vel  mnlHtiem  potius." 


206  ^  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

your  affairs  both  public  and  private,  as  to  excite  the  astonish- 
ment of  every  body ;  and  this,  too,  at  the  very  time  when 
the  recentness  of  your  grief  must  have  torn  and  prostrated 
you."^ 

As  Viret's  letter  is  dated  but  four  days  after  the  death  of 
Calvin's  v^^ife,  there  v^^as,  indeed,  some  ground  to  wonder  at 
the  latter's  fortitude ;  for  he  must  have  been  pursuing  his 
usual  avocations  while  his  wife  lay  still  unburied.  Such  was 
either  the  coldness  of  his  temperament  or  the  sustaining  power 
of  his  religion.  Idolette  left  some  children  by  her  former  hus- 
band, the  Anabaptist.  Their  fate  seems  to  have  caused  her 
some  anxiety  in  her  last  moments  ;  which,  though  she  betray- 
ed it  by  her  behavior,  she  seems  to  have  feared  to  communi- 
cate to  Calvin.  Guessing  her  feelings,  Calvin  considerately 
engaged  to  provide  fcr  them  as  if  they  were  his  own.  On  her 
remarking  that  she  had  already  commended  them  to  God, 
Calvin  observed  that  that  was  no  reason  why  he  should  not 
also  do  his  part ;  to  which  she  replied  :  "If  they  be  under  the 
protection  of  God,  I  know  that  they  will  be  commended  to 
you."^     It  does  not  appear  what  became  of  them  afterward. 

Within  a  month  after  this  event,  Beza  (Theodore  de  Beze) 
whose  history  was  thenceforward  to  be  so  closely  bound  up 
with  that  of  Calvin,  arrived  at  Geneva,  in  company  with 
seven  other  French  gentlemen,  whom  the  persecutions  had 
driven  from  France.^  Beza  was  born  on  the  24th  of  June, 
1519,  at  Vezelay,  a  small  but  strong  town  of  Burgundy.  His 
family  was  of  noble  blood  ;  but  his  father,  who  was  bailiff  or 
mayor  of  Vezelay,  was  neither  a  rich  man  nor  a  well  educated 
one.  Beza  owed  his  education  to  two  paternal  uncles,  both 
of  them  unmarried,  wealthy,  and  occupying  distinguished  po- 
sitions in  society  :  one  of  them  being  a  councilor  in  the  parlia- 
ment of  Paris,  and  the  other,  abbot  of  Froidmort.  At  the 
tender  age  of  three,  we  find  Beza,  who  had  already  lost  his 
mother,  installed  at  Paris,  in  the  house  of  his  uncle  the  coun- 
cilor, who  took  upon  himself  the  whole  charge  of  his  educa- 
tion. In  1528,  he  was  sent  to  Orleans  for  the  benefit  of  the 
instructions  of  Melchior  Wolmar ;  and  when  that  learned 
German  accepted  the  office  of  Greek  professor  at  Bourges,  he 
carried  his  young  pupil  with  him  to  that  city.  At  that  time 
Calvin  was  also  at  Bourges ;  but  the  disparity  in  their  ages, 

1  Ep.  102.  2  Ep.  106. 

3  "  Huit  gentilshommes  FraiKjais,  parmi  lesquels  est  Theod.  de  Beze,  ar- 
rivent  i(ji,  et  obtiennent  la  permission  d'y  demeurer." — Rigistres,  3  Mai, 
1549.     G-renus,  Fragmens  Biograpkiques. 


BEZA'S  ARRIVAL  AT  GENEVA.  207 

Calvin  being  ten  years  older  than  Beza,  must,  at  that  time 
of  life,  have  prevented  any  great  intimacy  between  them. 
When  Wolmar  left  Bourges,  Beza,  at  the  desire  of  his  uncle, 
the  abbot,  who,  on  the  death  of  the  councilor,  had  undertaken 
his  education,  returned  to  Orleans  to  study  the  law.  Beza's 
early  life  gave  no  token  of  that  sanctity  to  which  he  afterward 
attained.  He  was  alike  distinguished  by  the  profligacy  of  his 
morals,  and  the  elegance  of  his  scholarship,  and  especially  by 
his  Latin  poetry,  with  which  he  beguiled  the  hours  that  should 
have  been  devoted  to  the  drier  study  of  the  law.  Catullus 
and  Martial  were  his  models  ;  and  in  order  to  come  nearer  to 
his  originals,  he  did  not  eschew  those  freer  passages  which  the 
modesty  of  the  modern  muse  is  in  general  compelled  to  avoid. ^ 
His  life  at  Orleans  was  as  free  as  his  verses ;  and  though  he 
nowhere  confesses  this,  says  his  biographer,  yet  he  would  have 
done  so  had  circumstances  allowed  him  to  be  as  candid  as  St. 
Augustin.^  After  a  residence  of  some  years  at  Orleans,  he 
returned  to  Paris,  where  his  handsome  person,  his  talents,  and 
a  comfortable  income,  caused  him  to  be  every  where  well  re- 
ceived.^ His  uncle  had  procured  him  a  prebend  of  700  Hvres, 
and  promised  to  get  him  the  reversion  of  his  own  abbey,  worth 
15000  livres.  At  Paris  Beza  became  acquainted  with  some 
of  the  first  scholars  of  the  age,  as  Turnebus,  Buchanan,  and 
others.^  He  himself  acquired  considerable  fame  as  a  court 
poet  ;  and  this  circumstance,  together  with  his  various  amours, 
prevented  him  at  this  time  from  thinking  much  on  religion. 
A  poetical  compliment  addressed  to  Charles  V.,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  passing  through  Paris  in  January,  1 540,  attracted 
the  notice  of  that  emperor.  The  lady  whom  he  celebrates  in 
his  poems  under  the  name  of  Candida,  seems  to  have  been 
the  wife  of  a  tailor  living  in  the  Rue  de  Calandre  at  Paris,^ 
with  whom  he  had  formed  a  criminal  connection.  A  danger- 
ous illness  in  1548,  said  to  have  been  the  result  of  his  profli- 
gacy, awakened  more  serious  thoughts,  and  occasioned  his 
journey  to  Geneva,  where  he  married  the  woman  with  whom 

J  On  this  subject  Beza  says  in  the  preface  to  the  second  edition  of  his 
poems,  p.  8  (Stephanas,  1569)  :  "Etsi  enim,  quod  vere  dico,  illorum  obsceni- 
tate  sic  offendebar  ut  oculos  etiam  ipsos  a  quibusdain  inter  legendum  avert- 
erem,  tamen,  ut  ilia  setate  non  satis  cautus,  ita  illius  quidem  melle,  istius 
vero  salibus  capiebar,  ut  in  scribendo  quam  simillimus  coram  (de  ipso  char- 
actere  loquor)  evadere  stadercm." — A  fine  piece  of  prudish  hypocrisy  ! 

2  Schlosser,  Leben  des  Th.  de  Beza,  p.  20. 

3  "  Juventute  autem  florens,  otio,  pecunid,  rebusque  aliis  omnibus  potius- 
quam  bono  consilio  abundans,"  says  Melchior  Adamus,  Vita  Beza. 

*  Prcef.  in  Poem.,  p.  6. 

5  Laanay,  cited  by  Audin,  Vie  de  Calvin,  ii.,  327. 


208  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

he  had  cohabited  in  France.^  His  intention  was  to  set  up  a 
book  shop  at  Geneva,  in  partnership  with  a  friend  named 
Crespin.  In  order  to  provide  the  necessary  funds  he  sold  liis 
benefices  ;  for  though  he  had  renounced  the  errors  of  the  Ro- 
man CathoHc  Church,  he  did  not  scruple  to  enrich  himself 
with  her  spoils,  which  he  considered  lawful  prize,  according  to 
the  example  of  the  Israelites  when  quitting  the  land  of  Egypt.*^ 
On  his  arrival  at  Geneva,  Calvin  persuaded  him  to  give  up 
his  bookselling  scheme,  and  to  devote  himself  to  theology ; 
and  as  no  situation  adequate  to  his  abilities  then  offered  itself, 
either  in  that  city  or  its  neighborhood,  Beza  made  a  short  visit 
to  his  old  tutor  Wolmar,  at  Tubingen.  During  his  absence, 
the  place  of  Greek  professor  at  Lausanne  having  become  va- 
cant, Calvin  used  all  his  exertions  to  procure  it  for  him,  and 
he  was  installed  in  it  by  the  council  of  Berne  on  the  6th  of 
November,  1549.^  Beza  behaved  with  candor  on  this  occa- 
sion ;  and  before  he  entered  upon  his  office  confessed  having 
written  his  amatory  poems,  as  he  tells  us  in  the  preface  to 
those  pieces  which  he  republished.  Calvin,  who  looked  for- 
ward to  find  in  Beza  a  clever  and  devoted  partisan  of  his  doc- 
trines, directed  him  in  his  theological  studies.  As  he  had  not 
leisure  for  a  regular  course  of  the  fathers  and  schoolmen,  Beza 
chiefly  devoted  himself  to  the  explanation  of  the  Scriptures  in 
their  original  tongues.  After  he  had  been  a  little  while  at 
Lausanne  he  published  a  French  poem  entitled  *'  Abraham 
Sacrijiant,'"  which  drew  considerable  attention.  Soon  after- 
ward the  French  refugees  in  that  city  solicited  him  to  edit 
Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans  ;  a  work  which  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  his  edition  of  the  New  Testament." 

It  was  shortly  after  Beza's  arrival  at  Geneva  that  Calvin 
proceeded  to  Zurich  to  arrange  a  Concordat  with  BuUinger 
and  the  clerg}^  of  that  town  respecting  the  sacraments.  The 
quarrel  between  Luther  and  the  Swiss  churches  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  eucharist,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  con- 
ducted with  so  much  violence  on  the  part  of  the  former,  was 
calculated  to  damage  the  general  interests  of  the  Protestant 
Church ;  and  as  some  suspicion  existed,  that  Calvin  himself 
was  in  this  matter  inclined  to  the  Lutheran  tenets,  many  per- 
sons thought  it  highly  desirable  that  some  agreement  should 
be  come  to  on  the  subject  between  the  churches  of  Zurich 

i  P.  Henry,  ii.,  477.  Schlosser,  however  (p.  24),  represents  him  as  having 
been  secretly  married  to  a  young  woman  whom  he  had  not  succeeded  in 
seducing.  2  See  Schlosser,  p.  27. 

3  Schlosser,  p.  28,  and  Haller's  Diary  in  the  Mns.  Helv.,  ii..  87. 


THE  ZURICH  CONSENSUS.  209 

and  Geneva.  But  though  Calvin  stood  aloof  in  the  quarrel 
referred  to,  and  even  censured  the  mode  in  which  the  Zurich- 
ers  had  conducted  it,  still  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  he 
partook  in  Luther's  views.  He  had,  indeed,  found  fault  with 
Zwingli  and  CEcolampadius  for  having,  in  their  zeal  to  refute 
transubstantiation,  and  to  prove  that  Christ's  body,  after  its 
reception  into  heaven,  would  remain  there  until  the  day  of 
judgment,  omitted  to  state  the  nature  of  his  presence  in  the 
supper  ;  ^  thus  apparently  reducing  the  rite  to  a  mere  sign  or 
symbol.  Nay,  the  different  view  which  he  took  from  those 
Reformers,  had,  as  he  hiniself  tells  us,  rendered  him  accept- 
able to  Luther  and  his  followers  :  ^  yet  there  is  no  reason  to 
believe  that  he  had  ever  adopted  the  Lutheran  tenet  of  im- 
panation.  The  first  edition  of  his  "Institutes,"  the  formulary 
of  union  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  presented  to 
the  synod  of  Berne  in  1537,^  as  well  as  his  tract  "  On  the 
Lord's  Supper,"  published  in  1540,  show  the  contrary.'*  Nev- 
ertheless Calvin  evinced  no  anxiety  on  this  occasion  to  form 
a  junction  with  the  Swiss ;  and  indeed  throughout  his  life 
his  predilection  for  his  own  peculiar  doctrines,  and  his  disin- 
clination to  coalesce  with  any  other  church  unless  they  were 
unreservedly  adopted,  are  remarkable.  It  was  only  at  the 
pressing  solicitation  of  Farel  that  he  now  entered  upon  the 
project  of  a  union  with  Zurich.  When  Farel  first  suggested 
it  Calvin  alleged  the  obstinacy  of  the  Zurichers,  the  view 
which  Berne  would  take  of  the  matter,  the  difiiculty  in  leav- 
ing Geneva,  and  other  excuses  :  but  perceiving  from  a  corre- 
spondence with  Bullinger  that  that  minister  was  more  likely 
to  come  into  his  views  than  he  had  anticipated,  he  at  length 
agreed  to  comply  with  his  friend's  wishes.^  Accordingly,  to- 
ward the  end  of  May,  1549,  he  proceeded  to  Neufchatel,  in 
order  to  carry  Farel  with  him  to  Zurich  to  assist  in  arranging 
the  Concordat.  The  scheme  of  it  must,  however,  be  regard- 
ed as  belonging  to  Calvin.  In  the  preceding  March  a  synod 
had  been  held  at  Berne,  which  had  been  attended  by  all  the 

^  See  his  tract  De  Ccend  Domini,  p.  8,  B.,  Opera,  Amst.  ed. 
^  See  his  Secunda  Defeusio,  sub  init. 
3  Ruchat,  v.,  379. 

*  In  this  last  tract,  the  following  passage,  as  well  as  several  others,  would 
exclude  the  Lutheran  dogma:  "Only  I  would  remark  in  passing,  that  to 
consider  Christ  to  be  under  the  bread  and  wme,  or  so  to  conjoin  him  with 
them  as  that  our  mind  cleave  to  them,  and  be  not  elevated  to  heaven,  is  a 
diabolical  madness." — De  Ccend  Domi7ii,  Opera,  viii.,  7,  A.,  Amst.  ed.  Com- 
pare the  Confessio  Fidei  nomine  Ecclesiarum  Gallicarum,  drawn  up  in 
1542  {Ibid.,  p.  97,  B.) 

*  Kirchhofer,  Lebe7i  Farcls,  ii.,  93,  et  seq. 


210  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ministers  of  that  canton,  to  the  number  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty ;  and  to  this  assembly  Calvin  had  addressed  a  letter, 
exhorting  them  to  unity  in  the  sacraments,  and  which  he  ac- 
companied with  twenty  articles  respecting  them,  which  after- 
ward formed  the  basis  of  the  Zurich  Consensus}  The  latter 
document  itself  was  drawn  up  with  Calvin's  own  hand  ;  and 
in  the  preface  he  allowed  Farel  the  credit  of  having  been  the 
original  promoter  of  the  union. ^ 

Calvin's  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  the  eucharist  was,  as  is 
well  known,  a  mean  between  those  of  Zwingli  and  Luther.^ 
The  manner  in  which  he  differed  from  the  latter  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  Planck  :  "  According  to  Luther's  opinion  the  body 
of  Christ  descends  miraculously  during  the  sacrament,  and  is 
brought  into  such  connection  with  the  outward  symbols  of 
bread  and  wine,  that  it  is  not  only  present  with  them,  but  in 
them,  and  under  them,  and  can  thus  be  received  through  the 
mouth  by  any  body  who  partakes  of  the  symbols,  and  even 
therefore  by  a  man  without  faith.  But  according  to  Calvin 
the  body  of  Christ  does  not  descend  into  the  sacrament,  but 
the  soul  of  the  recipient  ascends  into  heaven  through  faith  ; 
and  being  thus  brought  into  contact  with  Christ's  body,  re- 
ceives a  power  of  holy  life."* 

Calvin,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Bullinger  during  the  corre- 
spondence before  mentioned,  has  himself  explained  the  points 
in  which  he  "differed,  or  ^seemed  to  differ,  from  the  Swiss 
church  on  this  subject.  In  this  he  says  :  "  When  the  sym- 
bols of  Christ's  body  and  blood  are  offered  to  us  in  the  supper, 
we  hold  that  they  are  not  offered  in  vain,  but  that  we  derive 
a  real  benefit  from  them  :  whence  it  follows,  that  we  eat  his 
body,  and  drink  his  blood.  By  so  speaking  we  neither  turn 
the  symbol  into  a  reality,  nor  confound  them  both  together, 
nor  include  the  body  of  Christ  in  the  bread,  nor  suppose  it  to 
be  infinite,  nor  dream  of  a  carnal  transfusion  of  Christ  into 
us,  nor.  set  up  any  other  such  an  invention.  You  assert  Christ, 
in  his  human  nature,  to  be  in  heaven  ;  we  do  the  same.  The 
name  of  heaven  conveys  to  you  the  notion  of  distance  of  place ; 
and  we  likewise  readily  confess  that  Christ  is  separated  from 

^  This  letter,  together  with  the  articles,  will  be  found  in  P.  Heniy,  Lebeti 
Calvins,  ii.,  Beil.  18. 

2  This  Consensus  is  published  among  Calvin's  tracts,  and  a  translation  of 
it  will  be  found  in  Ruchat,  v.,  370,  et  seq. 

3  It  is  not,  however,  certain,  that  Zwingli  altogether  denied  a  spiritual 
presence  in  the  eucharist.  There  is  a  difference  on  this  subject  in  his  ear- 
lier and  later  works. 

*  auoted  by  P.  Hemy,  ii.,  472. 


THE  ZURICH  CONSENSUS.  211 

US  by  local  distance.  You  deny  the  body  of  Christ  to  be  in- 
finite, and  hold  it  to  be  contained  in  its  own  circumference. 
Here,  too,  we  openly  and  ingenuously  testify  our  assent.  You 
would  not  mix  the  sign  with  the  thing  signified  ;  and  we  also 
sedulously  inculcate  that  the  one  must  be  distinguished  from 
the  other.  You  severely  condemn  the  doctrine  of  impanation, 
and  to  this  condemnation  we  subscribe.  What,  then,  is  the 
sum  of  our  opinion  ]  That  when  we  behold  the  bread  and 
wine  here  on  earth  our  souls  must  be  elevated  to  heaven  to 
partake  of  Christ,  and  that  he  is  then  present  to  us  when  we 
seek  him  beyond  the  elements  of  this  world.  Nor  is  it  law- 
ful for  us  to  accuse  Christ  of  deceit ;  which,  however,  would 
be  the  case,  unless  we  held  that  the  reality  was  exhibited  to 
us  together  with  the  sign.  You  also  concede  that  the  sign  is 
not  an  empty  one  ;  therefore  it  only  remains  that  we  should 
define  what  it  comprehends.  When  we  briefly  answer  that 
we  are  thereby  made  partakers  of  Christ's  body  and  blood,  so 
that  he  dwells  in  us  and  we  in  him,  and  thus  enjoy  his  uni- 
versal benefits,  is  there  any  thing,  I  pray,  obscure  or  absurd  \ 
in  these  words  ?"  ^  .    ~~^ 

Hence  it  appears  that  the  chief  difference  between  Calvin 
and  Bullinger  on  the  subject  of  this  sacrament  was,  that 
though  both  believed  in  a  real  participation  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  the  former,  with  his  usual  love  of  system, 
would  explain  the  manner  of  it,  namely,  by  the  elevation  of 
the  soul  to  heaven,  which  Bullinger  was  willing  to  leave  un- 
defined.^ The  same  difference  marks  the  two  theologians  on 
the  subject  of  grace  and  election.  Here  Calvin  defined  his 
doctrine  in  the  most  precise  terms,  and  in  the  harshest  man- 
ner ;  while  Bullinger,  though  he  recognized  the  election  of 
God,  was  unwilling  to  pursue  it  through  all  its  logical  con- 
sequences, and  especially  to  that  of  reprobation.  And  thus, 
though  Calvin  seized  the  opportunity  offered  by  this  Con- 
sensus for  introducing  his  favorite  doctrine,  yet  he  could 
not  get  Bullinger  to  go  all  the  length  he  wished  upon  that 
head. 

At  Zurich  the  Consensus  was  arranged  between  the  clergy 
and  lay  councilors  :  Calvin  forwarded  the  draft  of  it  for  Bul- 
linger's  approval,  and  received  it  back,  before  the  end  of  Au- 

1  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  ii.,  Beil.  18,  6  Cal.  Jul.,  1549. 

2  I  do  not  mean,  however,  to  assert  that  Calvin  pretended  to  explain  the 
miraculous  manner  in  which  the  virtue  of  Christ's  body  is  communicated 
to  us  in  the  sacrament,  which  would  have  been  absurd.  On  this  subject 
see  his  tracts  De  vera  Participatione,  &c.,  Opera,  viii.,  727,  A.,  Amst.  ed., 
and  De  Coend  Domini,  near  the  end. 


212  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

gust,  with  a  few  verbal  alterations  in  the  preface  and  epilogue. 
In  the  following  October  it  appeared  in  print,  with  a  letter 
from  Calvin  to  Bullinger,  and  the  latter's  answer.  The  clergy 
of  Berne  assented  to  it,  but  it  was  not  allowed  to  be  printed 
in  that  town.^  Melancthon  and  the  more  moderate  Luther- 
ans also  agreed  with  Calvin's  view ;  and  the  Zurich  Con- 
cordat might  possibly  have  led  to  a  union  of  the  whole  Prot- 
estant Church  but  for  the  subsequent  interference  of  Westphal 
and  others ;  unless,  indeed,  the  doctrine  of  election  should 
have  proved  a  hinderance.  With  whatever  moderation  that 
doctrine  was  expressed  in  the  Consensus,  Melancthon,  as  Cal- 
vin himself  tells  us,  on  receiving  a  copy  of  it,  ran  his  pen 
through  the  passage  in  which  the  elect  are  distinguished  from 
the  reprobate.^ 

At  this  time  Lselius  Socinus,  the  son  of  Mariano  Socinus, 
a  celebrated  jurisconsult  of  Bologna,  was  residing  at  Zurich. 
Lselius  had  been  intended  for  his  father's  profession ;  but  a 
restless  and  inquisitive  spirit  drove  him  in  preference  to  the 
study  of  theology,  though  without  any  intention  of  devoting 
himself  to  the  service  of  the  Church.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  he  went  to  reside  at  Venice,  where  he  separated  from  the 
Romish  communion.  That  city  being  neither  a  safe  resi- 
dence for  a  heretic,  nor  containing  any  learned  men  who 
could  solve  the  religious  doubts  by  which  he  was  tormented, 
Socinus  removed,  in  1547,  to  Chiavenna;''  a  place  noted  for 
heterodoxy  in  religion,  and  where  Socinus  seems  to  have  im- 
bibed some  of  those  peculiar  opinions  which  afterward  dis- 
tinguished the  sect  called  after  him  and  his  nephew,  Faustus, 
Socinians.  After  a  short  residence  at  Chiavenna,  Socinus 
traveled  through  Switzerland,  France,  England,  and  the 
Netherlands;  and  toward  the  end  of  1548,  or  beginning  of 
1549,  came  to  Geneva,  where  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Calvin.  The  skeptical  spirit  of  Socinus  was  concealed  under 
the  modest  guise  of  a  disciple  and  a  learner :  and  he  was 
accustomed  to  propose  his  views  in  the  shape  of  doubts  and 
questions  on  which  he  required  information,  and  thus  to  avoid 
all  appearance  of  dogmatical  assertion.  The  same  dissimula- 
tion characterized  the  sect  which  he  partly  helped  to  found, 
whose  tenets  may  be  regarded  as  a  timid  compromise  between 
Deism  and  Christianity.  Li  1549  we  find  him  addressing 
some  letters  to  Calvin,  in  which  he  proposed  the  three  foUow- 

1  See  Haller's  Diary,  Mus.  Helv.,  ii.,  87. 
8  See  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  141. 
3  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  ii.,  142,  et  seq. 


:     LiELIUS  SOCTNUS  Si3 

ing  questions  :  Whether  it  was  lawful  for  a  member  of  the 
Reformed  Church  to  marry  a  Papist?  whether  popish  bap- 
tism was  efficacious  ?  and  in  what  manner  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  was  to  be  explained  ?  Calvin,  who 
seems  to  have  been  struck  with  the  talents  and  learning  of 
the  young  Socinus,  though  he  disapproved  of  his  over-inquisi- 
tive turn  of  mind,  answered  these  questions  in  two  elaborate 
letters.^  In  these  he  wholly  condemns  marriage  with  a  Cath- 
olic ;  but  does  not  consider  popish  baptism  as  inefficacious, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  thinks  it  should  be  resorted  to  when 
none  other  can  be  had.  The  reasons  he  assigns  are,  that  the 
Papists  must  still  be  considered  as  constituting  some  remains 
of  a  church,  however  deformed  and  corrupt ;  and  that  the 
character  of  the  baptizer,  Avhether  he  be  an  atheist,  or  even  a 
devil,  is  of  no  consequence  as  to  the  validity  of  the  sacrament. 
With  regard  to  the  third  question — the  resurrection  of  the 
flesh — how  should  it  have  been  possible  to  answer  a  man  who 
wished  to  know  the  exact  manner  of  it :  whether,  as  our  body 
is  continually  changing,  we  should  receive  again  that  of  our 
youth,  or  of  our  old  age,  which  can  not  be  said  to  be  the  same 
bodies  ?  whether  those  who  have  been  mutilated  in  life  would 
rise  with  perfect  bodies  ?  ^  and  other  questions  of  the  same 
description.  Calvin  answered  Socinus,  as  well  as  he  could  on 
such  a  subject,  in  his  first  letter,  by  referring  him  to  the  dif- 
ferent texts  of  Scripture  relating  to  it ;  at  the  same  time  de- 
claring, the  question  to  be  one  rather  of  curiosity  than  utility. 
But  when  he  found  that  Socinus  was  not  satisfied  with  his 
answer,  he  refused  to  enter  further  into  the  question. 

Toward  the  end  of  1549,^  the  general  assembly  suddenly 
abolished  the  four  festivals,  which  had  still  continued  to  be 
celebrated  at  Geneva  :  namely,  those  of  the  New  Year,  the 
Annunciation,  the  Ascension,  and  Christmas  ;  a  step  which 
created  a  feeling  of  great  discontent  at  Berne,  and  indeed  al- 
most led  to  an  open  rupture  with  that  city.  Calvin  has  given 
an  account  of  this  matter  in  a  letter  to  Haller,  and  in  one  to 
another  minister,'*  in  which  he  defends  himself  from  the 
charge  of  having  had  any  part  in  it.  In  these  he  states,  that 
when  he  came  to  Geneva,  he  found  that  al]  festivals  had  been 
already  abolished  by  Farel  and  Viret,  except  the  Lord's  day  ; 

1  Epp.  103  and  104. 

2  See  the  tract  of  Socinus  on  this  subject,  in  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  ii.,  Beil. 
445. 

3  On  the  16th  of  November.  See  Ruchat,  v.  425.  Beza  places  this  oc 
currence  in  the  following  year;  but  he  is  not  always  correct  in  his  dates 

*  Epp.  118  and  128. 


214  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

that  the  four  celebrated  at  Berne  were  re-established  by  the 
same  decree  of  the  people  by  which  Farel  and  himself  were 
banished ;  that  upon  his  return  from  exile  he  might  easily  have 
effected  their  abolition ;  but  that  seeing  the  heat  that  pre- 
vailed on  the  subject  between  the  different  parties,  he  pre- 
ferred a  middle  course,  namely,  that  these  festivals  should  be 
observed  in  the  morning  by  shutting  the  shops  and  abstaining 
from  business,  but  that  after  dinner  they  should  be  reopened, 
and  work  resumed  ;  that  this  practice  had  led  to  disorder,  and, 
had  excited  a  suspicion  among  strangers  that  the  Genevese 
were  not  well  agreed  among  themselves,  inasmuch  as  some  of 
the  citizens  observed  this  regulation,  while  others  did  not ; 
and  that  he  had  therefore  exhorted  the  council  to  find  some 
remedy  for  this  difference  ;  but  had  neither  advised,  nor  even 
desired,  the  abolition  of  the  festivals,  concerning  which  he  had 
not  been  consulted,  and  which  he  had  heard  of  with  the 
greatest  surprise. 

All  this  may  be  literally  true ;  yet  Calvin  himself  acknowl- 
edges that  he  was  not  sorry  for  the  change  which  had  been 
effected ;  and  in  his  position  it  was  easy  enough  to  show 
which  way  his  wishes  inclined  without  expressing  any  direct 
and  open  opinion  upon  the  subject.  But  what  throws  some- 
thing more  than  a  suspicion  on  the  candor  of  this  defense  is 
the  lact  that  in  December,  1544,  as  appears  from  the  Regis- 
ters, Calvin  had  actually  recommended  to  the  council  the 
abolition  of  the  festival  of  Christmas,  as  well  as  of  the  other 
three. ^  At  the  same  time,  as  he  remarks  in  his  letter  to 
Haller,  there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  the  Bernese 
should  have  taken  such  offense  at  the  line  of  conduct  adopted 
by  the  Genevese,  who  were  surely  the  best  judges  of  what 
the  interests  and  discipline  of  their  church  required.  Calvin 
was  so  much  blamed  for  this  change  that  it  was  even  ru- 
mored in  some  quarters  that  he  meant  to  abolish  the  Sab- 
l)ath.' 

In  1550  Calvin  introduced  another  alteration  in  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Genevese  church.  It  being  thought  that  suf- 
ficient effect  was  not  produced  by  mere  preaching,  he  de- 
termined that  at  certain  seasons  each  minister,  accompanied 
by  one  of  the  elders,  should  visit  the  houses  of  his  parishion- 
ers, for  the  purpose  of  interrogating  them  as  to  their  faith, 

»  "Le  jour  de  Noel  sera  celebre  comme  a  I'ordinaire  quoique  Calvin  ait 
represente  au  Conseil  que  Ton  pourroit  se  dispenser  de  faire  cette  fete  de 
meme  que  les  trois  autres." — Registres,  19  Dec,  1.544.  Grenns, ' Fragmens 
Biographigup't,  sub  anno.  2  Ep.  128. 


CALVIN'S  TRACT  "  DE  SCANDALIS."  215 

and  giving  them  instructions.  Beza  ascribes  wonderful  ef- 
fects to  this  practice.^  But,  meanwhile,  this  extraordinary 
strictness  of  discipUne  was  developing  one  of  its  usual  results 
by  producing  the  most  consummate  hypocrisy ;  as  will  always 
be  the  case  in  any  religious  system  which  demands  too  great 
an  outward  appearance  of  piety,  and  exactions  too  rigid  for 
ordinary  human  nature.  Some  of  the  greatest  scoundrels  in 
Geneva  were  the  most  regular  in  attending  the  sermons.  In 
the  course  of  the  year  we  find  Calvin  complaining  to  the 
council  respecting  the  sentence  of  a  criminal  executed  for 
coining  base  money,  in  which  was  inserted  that  he  was  one 
of  those  who  had  taken  refuge  at  Geneva  for  the  sake  of  re- 
ligion, and  that  he  went  to  church  every  day :  a  clause  which 
he  maintained  to  be  derisive  and  contrary  to  God's  honor. ^ 
But  is  hypocrisy  no  offense  in  the  eye  of  God  ?  And  if  it  be, 
how  can  it  be  contrary  to  his  honor  to  denounce  a  man  as  a 
hypocrite,  as  well  as  a  rogue  t  But  Calvin  would  not  have  a 
word  whispered  against  the  refugees. 

To  the  offense  which  had  been  taken  at  the  abolition  of 
the  fetes  Beza  ascribes  the  origin  of  Calvin's  work  "  De 
Scandalis,''  the  dedication  of  which  to  M.  de  Normandie  is 
dated  the  9th  of  July,  1550,  the  anniversary  of  Calvin's  birth- 
day, Scandalum  is  here  used  in  its  primitive  sense  of  "  a 
stumbling-block,"  or,  "  rock  of  offense ;"  and  scandals  are 
divided  into  three  principal  classes  ;  first,  the  offense  which 
proud  and  worldly  men  take  at  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel, 
&c.  ;  second,  the  sects  and  divisions  which  arise  among  the 
preachers  of  the  gospel ;  third,  the  scandals  which  spring  from 
the  wickedness,  hypocrisy,  ingratitude,  and  vanity  of  world- 
lings. Among  the  contemners  of  the  gospel  Calvin  names 
Rabelais,  Agrippa,  and  others. 

Laurent  de  Normandie,  to  whom  this  work  is  dedicated, 
had  filled  the  office  of  lieutenant  de  roi  at  Noyon,  and  had 
left  his  native  town,  with  Calvin  and  his  family,  for  the  sake 
of  rehgion.  The  popish  inhabitants  of  Noyon  held  them  both 
in  the  greatest  detestation;  and  in  1551,  a  false  report  hav- 
ing been  spread  of  Calvin's  death,  they  offered  up  solemn 
prayers  on  the  occasion.^  Some  time  afterward  M.  de  Nor- 
mandie was  burned  in  efiigy  at  Noyon  by  an  arret  of  the  par- 

1  Vita  Calv.,  anno  1550. 

2  "  Calvin  se  plaint  comme  d'une  derision  contraire  a  I'honneur  de  Dieu 
de  ce  que  Ton  a  insere  dans  la  sentence  d'nn  criminel  execute  pour  faasse 
monnoie,  qu'il  s'etoit  retire  iqi  pour  la  religion  et  alloit  tous  les  jours  an 
preche." — Rigistres,  3  Nov.  1550.     Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographiques . 

3  Calvin  to  Farel,  Ep.  140. 


216  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

liament  of  Paris.  By  the  same  arret  the  minister  Abel  was 
cited  to  appear  before  the  court  of  Noyon,  though  ridiculously 
enough,  no  mention  was  made  of  Calvin.  A  few  days  after 
the  burning  of  M.  de  Normandie's  effigy  a  great  fire  occurred 
at  Noyon,  which,  by  a  sort  of  miracle,  left  the  house  of  Cal- 
vin's father  standing,  though  all  around  it  were  reduced  to 
ashes.  The  person  who  related  this  to  Calvin  regarded  it  as 
a  judgment  of  God  against  the  inhabitants  of  Noyon,  for  the 
conduct  towards  M.  de  Normandie.^ 

»  Ep.  143. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

St.  Augustin  and  Pelagius — Predestination — Case  of  Bolsec — Calvin's  Ac- 
count of  his  Tenets — Bolsec  indicted — The  Swiss  Churches  consulted 
— Bolsec's  Life  in  danger — Bnllingers  Advice  to  Calvin — Letter  of  the 
Bernese  Ministers — M.  de  Jb^'allais  patronizes  Bolsec — Calvin's  Tract 
on  Predestination — Calvin  and  the  English  Church — Affair  of  Dr.  Hooper 
— Cranmer's  Principles  and  Projects  of  Union — Calvin's  Letter  to  him — 
Misconceives  Cranmer's  Situation. 

It  has  been  seen  that  in  his  book  against  Pighius,  on  the 
subject  of  predestination,  Calvin  had  only  entered  into  what 
may  be  called  the  philosophical  portion  of  the  question,  or 
that  concerning  the  freedom  or  servitude  of  the  human  will ; 
while  the  treatment  of  the  more  awful  and  important  part  of 
it,  namely,  that  of  absolute  decrees,  had  been  deferred  to 
some  future  opportunity.  His  multifarious  occupations,  and 
perhaps  also  the  want  of  some  stimulus  to  draw  him  out,  had 
hitherto  prevented  him  from  again  taking  up  his  pen  on  this 
subject ;  but  an  event  which  happened  in  the  year  1551,  not 
only  led  to  a  public  agitation  of  the  question,  but  induced 
him  to  finish  the  work  which  he  had  begun  against  Pighius. 
This  was  his  quarrel  with  Bolsec  on  the  subject  of  his  favorite 
doctrine. 

St.  Augustin,  who  flourished  toward  the  end  of  the  fourth, 
and  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  centuries,  was  the  first  of  the 
Fathers  who  introduced  the  doctrine  of  predestination  into  the 
Christian  Church.  The  youth  of  Augustin  had  been  disso- 
lute, and  his  education  irregular  ;  but  a  lively  genius,  and  an 
inquisitive  turn  of  mind,  led  him  into  researches  respecting  the 
origin  of  evil,  the  nature  of  God,  and  other  difficult  and  ab- 
struse questions,  which  only  served  to  perplex  and  bewilder 
an  understanding  untrained  by  proper  discipline  and  culture. 
On  the  very  threshold  of  manhood  and  reason  he  fell  into  the 
Manichean  heresy,  in  which  he  remained  for  nine  years ; 
during  which  period  he  also  indulged  in  the  dreams  of  judi- 
cial astrology.  He  owed  his  conversion  to  the  Catholic  faith 
chiefly  to  St.  Ambrose,  bishop  of  Milan  ;  but  he  had  passed 
his  thirtieth  year  before  he  became  a  catechumen.^  Even 
after  his  conversion,  however,  he  was  still  haunted  by  his 
1  Tillemont,  Mem.  EccL,  xiii.,  51,  et  seq. 

K 


218  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

metaphysical  notions,  and  sought  a  knowledge  of  God  as  much 
in  the  books  of  the  Platonists  as  in  the  Scriptures.  In  the 
latter  he  was  particularly  struck  by  the  writings  of  St.  Paul ; 
and  it  was  while  meditating  in  his  garden  on  one  of  the  epis- 
tles of  that  Apostle,  that  Augustin,  like  St.  Paul  himself,  felt 
a  sudden  call  to  a  holy  life  :  though  in  his  case  the  conversion 
seems  at  all  events  to  have  been  assisted  by  a  growing  weak- 
ness of  the  lungs,  which  disqualified  him  for  the  vocation 
which  he  followed  at  Milan  of  professor  of  rhetoric. 

When,  in  his  fortieth  year,  Augustin  composed  his  "  Ques- 
tions on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,"  he  still  considered  faith  as 
springing,  not  from  grace,  but  free  will  ;^  and  it  was  not  till 
three  years  afterward,  in  his  books  addressed  to  Simplician, 
that  he  first  laid  down  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  to  which 
he  is  said  to  have  been  led  in  examining  these  words  of  St. 
Paul :  "What  have  ye  that  ye  have  not  received"?"^  This 
account  sufficiently  shows  that  the  Fathers  before  his  time 
were  not  predestinarian ;  for,  had  that  been  the  received 
doctrine  of  the  early  church,  St.  Ambrose,  and  the  other  in- 
structors of  Augustin,  would  scarcely  have  left  him  to  discover 
it  by  his  own  unassisted  researches.  This  fact  was  urged 
against  him  by  the  Pelagians,  who  not  only  objected  that  the 
primitive  Fathers  did  not  teach  predestination,  but  that  they 
were  actually  adverse  to  it.^  From  this  objection  Augustin 
endeavored  to  escape  by  affirming  that  the  Pelagian  heresy 
not  having  appeared  in  their  days,  they  had  not  found  it 
necessary  to  declare  their  sentiments  ;  ti  subterfuge  which 
still  leaves  unexplained  the  fact  of  their  being  against  the 
doctrine.^  Indeed,  it  was  only  late  in  life,  and  after  he  had 
been  heated  by  the  Pelagian  controversy,  that  Augustin  him- 
self adopted  the  doctrine  in  its  most  unmitigated  form :  for  he 
was  constantly  touching  up  and  altering  his  writings ;  and 
his  most  noted  works  on  the  subject  are  two,  written  just  at 
the  close  of  his  life,  entitled,  "  On  the  Predestination  of  Saints,'' 
and  "On  the  Gift  of  Perseverance."^ 

1  Ibid.,  p.  189.  2  Ibid.,  p.  286. 

3  "  For  the  Pelagians  formerly  attacked  St.  Augustine  with  the  same 
reproach,  namely,  that  the  other  writers  of  the  Church  were  against  him 
{adversos).  He  first,  therefore,  defends  himself  by  observing,  that  previously 
to  the  heresy  of  Pelagius,  they  had  not  delivered  the  true  doctrine  of  pre- 
destination very  accurately  or  acutely.  '  What  need,  then,  is  tjiere,'  says 
he,  'to  search  their  works,  who,  living  before  that  heresy  sprang  up,  had  no 
occasion  to  enter  into  a  question  of  such  difficult  solution?'" — Calvin,  De 
<Bternd  Dei  Prcedeatinatione,  Opera,  viii.,  596,  B. 

*  Dr.  Tomline  has  shown,  in  his  "  Pi/cfutation  of  Calvinism,"  c.  v.,  that 
the  doctrine  of  the  ancient  Fathers  was  in  direct  opposition  to  the  peculiar 
tenets  of  Calvinism.  ^  Tillemont,  M^m.  Eccl.,  xiii.,  921. 


ST.  AUGUSTIN  AND  PELAGIUS.  9 

Pelagins,  the  opponent  of  Augustin,  pushed  his  herc-sy  to 
the  contrary  extreme ;  and  in  his  zeal  for  good  works,  excited 
by  the  scandalous  lives  both  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  his 
time,  rejected  altogether  the  operation  of  grace.  His  own 
life  is  said  to  have  been  a  model  of  purity ;  but  if  he  practiced 
what  he  preached,  we  may  remember  that  he  was  released, 
through  peculiar  circumstances,  from  some  of  those  tempta- 
tions to  which  in  his  youth  Augustin  had  succumbed.^  The 
latter,  as  is  well  known,  obtained  the  victory  over  his  adver- 
sary; and  Pelagius,  and  his  assistant,  Coelestius,  were  twice 
anathematized  by  different  Popes.  But  the  doctrine  of  St. 
Augustin,  though  thus  stamped  with  orthodoxy,  seems  never 
to  have  been  very  generally  popular  in  the  Komish  Church ; 
and — such  is  the  strange  mutability  of  human  opinion — we 
find,  as  we  approach  the  period  of  the  Reformation,  that  the 
sentiments  of  Pelagius  had  gained  a  complete  ascendency 
among  the  Romish  hierarchy,  and  were  become  the  very 
cause  and  instrument  of  that  corruption  against  which  they 
were  originally  directed.  Good  works  were  regarded  not  only 
as  a  sure  passport  to  heaven  for  the  doers  of  them,  but  the 
supererogator}^  ones  of  the  saints  formed  an  inexhaustible  fund 
from  which  even  the  grossest  sinners  might  draw  the  same 
privilege ;  and  that  not  only  with  as  much  sureness  as  election 
itself  could  confer,  but  with  the  additional  advantage  of  its 
being  obtainable  for  money.  But  though  this  gross  abuse  at 
first  very  naturally  excited  the  indignation  of  the  Reformers, 
and  drove  them  back  to  Augustinian  tenets  in  their  severest 
form,  which  had,  indeed,  never  been  wholly  extinct  among 
the  monks  of  that  order,  and  among  the  Dominicans ;  yet 
after  a  while  we  find  the  more  moderate  portion  of  the  Re- 
formers becoming  gradually  sensible  of  the  inconveniences  and 
inconsistencies  to  which  the  doctrine  of  predestination  led,  and 
consequently  either  abandoning  it,  or  at  least  keeping  it  as 
much  as  possible  in  the  back  ground. 

Hume  has  somewhere  traced  the  doctrine  of  absolute  decrees 
to  a  spirit  of  enthusiasm  ;  and  in  its  founder,  and  many  of  his 
followers,  this  was  probably  its  true  origin.  There  is,  however, 
another  disposition  of  mind,  which,  in  some  temperaments, 
favors  its  reception — I  mean  the  love  of  systematizing,  and  of 
logical  deduction.  In  Calvin,  who  was  singularly  free  both 
from  superstition  and  enthusiasm,  it  was  probably  to  this 
quality  of  mind  that  we  must  ascribe  the  adoption  of  the 
doctrine ;  though  he  was,  perhaps,  partly  led  to  it  by  that 
1  Tillemont,  Mem.  Eccl..  xiii.,  562. 


220  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

gloomy  view  of  religion  which  characterizes  him  as  a  theolo- 
gian, and  which,  in  the  establishment  of  his  discipline,  induced 
him  to  adopt  the  severities  of  the  Mosaic  law,  intended  only 
for  a  peculiar  people,  rather  than  those  more  lenient  and 
cheerful  precepts  of  Christianity  which  were  meant  for  the 
use  of  all  mankind.  His  theory  on  the  subject,  viewed  merely 
with  regard  to  its  logic,  is  so  far  perfect  and  consistent  as  to 
force  those  who  would  escape  from  it  into  the  adoption  of  two, 
if  not  contradictory,  at  all  events,  incongruous  propositions. 
That  all  things  spring  solely  from  the  will  of  God  ;  that  he 
foresees  them,  because  he  fore  wills  them  ;  that  if  man's  will 
were  free,  then  there  would  be  another  will  besides  that  of 
God  ;  that  things  might  consequently  arise  which  he  had 
neither  foreknown  nor  fore-ordained,  and  thus  the  government 
of  the  world  be  in  a  great  measure  taken  out  of  his  hands, 
and  left  to  chance  and  contingency :  these  reflections,  applied 
to  the  doctrine  of  free  will,  give  rise  to  difficulties  which  minds 
of  the  highest  order  have  confessed  their  inability  to  solve. ^ 
Viewed,  too,  more  particularly  as  to  the  relation  between  God 
and  man,  Calvin's  doctrine  afforded  him  an  opportunity  to 
insist  on  the  duty  of  humility  and  entire  submission  to  God's 
will ;  and  to  inveigh  against  the  pride  and  self-exaltation  of 
those  who  would  pretend  by  their  merits  to  wring  from  him, 
as  it  were,  the  possession  of  heaven,  without  being  indebted 
for  it  to  his  grace  and  bounty.^ 

Though  Calvin's  scheme  was  beset  with  many  difficulties, 
there  was  nothing  positively  incomprehensible  in  it ;  nor  were 
there  wanting  many  texts  of  Scripture,  and  especially  in  the 
writings  of  St.  Paul,  which  he  could  quote  in  its  support  and 
justification.  Yet  minds  equally  pious,  equally  acute,  and 
equally  enlightened  with  his  own,  rejected  it.  They  viewed 
with  horror  its  incompatibility  with  the  attributes  of  God,  as 
known  to  us  both  from  reason  and  revelation,  at  the  same 
time  that  they  were  struck  with  its  inconsistency,  not  only 
with  the  promises  contained  in  the  gospel,  but  with  the  whole 

1  "The  reconciling  of  the  prescience  of  God  with  the  free  will  of  man, 
Mr.  Locke,  after  much  thought  on  the  subject,  freely  confessed  he  could 
not  do,  though  he  acknowledged  both.  And  what  Mr.  Locke  could  not  do 
in  reasoning  upon  subjects  of  a  metaphysical  nature,  I  am  apt  to  think  few 
men,  if  any,  can  hope  to  perform." — Letter  of  Lord  Lyttelton  to  Mr.  West, 
quoted  by  Dr.  Tomline,  liefutation  of  Calvinism,  c.  iv. 

2  On  this  point  Sir  T.  Browne  very  aptly  remarks  :  "Insolent  zeals  that 
do  decry  good  works,  nnd  rely  onl3'  upon  faith,  take  not  away  merit:  for, 
depending  upon  the  efficacy  of  their  faith,  they  enforce  the  condition  of  God, 
and  in  a  more  sophistical  way  do  seem  to  challenge  heaven." — Religio 
Medici,  Pt.  i.,  $  60. 


PREDESTINATION.  221 

scheme  of  Christian  redemption.  That  God  should  call  all, 
yet  elect  only  a  lew ;  that  he  should  send  his  Son  into  the 
world  to  suffer  an  ignominious  death,  for  the  purpose  of  saving 
those  whose  fate  had  been  decided  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  and  thus  to  effect  a  redemption  by  which  nobody 
was  redeemed ;  that  he  who  is  essentially  just  and  merciful 
should  consign  one  portion  of  his  creation  to  eternal  misery 
solely  from  caprice,  or,  at  all  events,  for  sins  which  he  would 
have  necessitated  them  to  commit,  as  if  he  were  the  causa 
of  guilt  and  evil :  these  consequences  of  the  doctrine,  besides 
being  horrible  and  revolting,  appeared  to  many  minds  quite 
as  absurd  as  the  logical  incongruity  to  which  its  rejection 
seemed  to  lead.  Such  persons  submitted  their  reasoning  pride 
to  their  conviction  of  God's  mercy  and  justice,  and  were  will- 
ing to  say  that  the  doctrine  of  free  will  led  to  consequences 
which  they  could  not  understand,  rather  than  attribute  to  the 
Almighty  a  mode  of  action  utterly  incompatible  with  all  theii 
notions  of  him.  From  the  letter  of  Melancthon  to  Calvin 
before  quoted,  it  appears  that  a  friend  of  the  former,  named 
Francis  Stadianus,  was  first  bold  enough  to  avow  his  belief 
both  in  providence  and  contingency,  though  he  admitted  that 
he  could  not  reconcile  their  co-existence.  Melancthon  him- 
self acceded  to  his  views ;  nor  have  the  researches  of  more 
modern  inquirers  been  successful  in  discovering  any  other  out- 
let, consistent  with  revelation,  from  this  intricate  labyrinth.^ 

Calvin  himself  was  not  insensible  of  the  difficulties  attend- 
ing his  doctrine.  Some  of  the  objections  to  it  he  evaded, 
others  he  denied.  When  closely  pressed,  he  would  declare 
that  the  mystery  was  too  profound  for  his  understanding ; 
that  it  was  one  of  the  deep  secrets  of  God  ;  and  would  an- 
swer in  the  words  of  St.  Paul :  "  Nay  but,  O  man,  who  art 
thou  that  rephest  against  God  ]  Shall  the  thing  formed  say 
to  him  that  formed  it,  why  hast  thou  made  me  thus  ?"  &c.^ 
Sometimes  he  would  advance  the  supralapsarian  doctrine,  that 
God  decreed  the  fall  of  man  in  order  to  get  glory  by  it.^  The 
objection  that  his  doctrine  made  God  the  author,  or  rather, 
the  cause  of  sin,  which  Melancthon  had  brought  against  it, 
and  which  is  one  of  the  principal  ones  urged  by  Bolsec,  Cas- 

1  "With  regard  to  the  question  of  predestination,  I  had  formerly  a  friend 
at  Tubingen,  a  learned  man,  named  Francis  Stadianus,  who  used  to  say 
that  he  believed  both  that  all  things  happened  by  the  decree  of  Divine 
Providence,  and  yet  that  they  were  contingent ;  though  he  acknowledged 
that  he  could  not  reconcile  these  opinions." — Calvin,  Epp.  et  Reap.,  ^p.  48, 

5*  See  De  ceternd  Dei  Predestinatione,  Opera,  viii.,  595,  B. 

3  Instit.  iii.,  eh.  23,  $  8. 


222  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

tellio,  and  others,  Calvin  found  it  difficult  to  meet.     In  his 
book  against  Pighius  he  shortly  dismisses  this  difficulty  with 
the  remark  that  the  solution  of  it  is  above  the  human  under- 
standing.^   In  his  tract  against  Bolsec  he  endeavors  to  explain 
the  matter  by  the  similitude  of  a  just  king,  v^ho,  in  pursuing 
a  legitimate  war  arms  a  great  many  soldiers,  who  may  com- 
mit the  greatest  enormities ;  yet  it  would  be  unjust  to  impute 
their  crimes  to  the  monarch  who  sends  them  forth. ^     This  is 
a  striking  example  of  the  fallacy  of  using  comparisons  by  way 
of  argument.    As  if,  forsooth,  there  was  any  analogy  between 
an  earthly  king  who  merely  u?>es,  such  instruments  as  he  finds 
at  hand,  and  the  King  of  Heaven,  who  creates,  those  instru- 
ments I     In  his  tract  against  Castellio  he  acknowledges  that 
he  can  not  satisfactorily  explain  his  doctrine :  "  What  a  rank 
calumny,  then,  is  it,  he  says,  to  implicate  a  man  who  has 
deserved  well  of  the  Church  of  God  (i.  e.,  Calvin  himself), 
in  the  crime  of  making  God  the  author  of  sin  ?     He  every 
where,  indeed,  teaches  that  nothing  is  done  but  by  the  will 
of  God ;  but  at  the  same  time  he  asserts  that  God  directs  the 
wicked  deeds  of  men  in  such  a  manner  by  his  secret  decree, 
that  the  latter  has  nothing  analogous  to  human  guilt.     The 
sum  of  his  doctrine  is,  that  God,  in  a  wonderful  manner,  and 
by  methods  unknown  to  us,  governs  all  things  to  what  end  he 
pleases,  so  that  his  eternal  will  is  the  first  cause  of  every  thing. 
But  why  God  should  will  what  appears  to  us  by  no  means 
fit  and  proper  he  acknowledges  to  be  incomprehensible."  "^   His 
system  then,  by  his  own  admission,  was  attended  with  almost 
as  much  difficulty  as  that  of  free  will ;  which,  at  all  events, 
affords  an  outlet  from  this  dilemma.     A  reasoner  as  acute, 
but  on  this  point  more  consistent  and  intrepid  than  Calvin, 
has  not  hesitated  to  push  the  doctrine  to  its  legitimate  con- 
clusion.    The  philosopher  of  Malmsbury  did  not  see  that  it 
was  any  dishonor  to  God  to  say  that  he  was  the  cause  of  sin ; 
though  he  held  that  the  absolute  power  of  the  Deity  made  it 
impossible  for  him  to  commit  sin  himself*    Calvin  endeavored 
to  avoid  this  objection  to  his  doctrine  by  allowing  man  a  one- 
sided liberty,  namely,  that  of  sinning.     But  when  Georgius 
Siculus  objected  the  absurdity  of  maintaining  at  the  same 

1  Opera,  viii.,  126,  A.  2  Ihid.,  p.  627,  B. 

3  See  Brevis  Responsio,  &c.,  Opera,  viii.,  629,  A. 

*  "This  I  know,  God  can  not  sin,  because  his  doing  a  thing  makes  it  just, 
and  consequently  no  sin ;  and  because  whatsoever  can  sin,  is  subject  to 
another's  law,  which  God  is  not.  And,  therefore,  it  is  blasphemy  to  say 
God  can  sin.  But  to  say  that  God  can  so  order  the  world  as  a  sin  may 
necessarily  be  caused  thereby  in  a  man,  I  do  not  see  how  it  is  any  dishonor 
to  him."— 'Hobbes,  On  Liherty  and  Necessity.    See  Works,  v.,  p,  116, 117. 


PREDESTINATION.  223 

time  that  man  is  free  to  sin,  and  yet  that  the  reprobate  sin 
of  necessity,  Calvin  evaded  instead  of  answering  the  difficulty, 
which  he  dismissed  in  two  or  three  short  sentences.^ 

It  is  not  exactly  known  at  what  time  Calvin  first  adopted 
his  doctrine  of  predestination.  Bretschneider  affirms  that  it 
was  in  1539,  when  preparing  his  "  Commentary  on  St.  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,"  at  Strasburgh  ;^  but  we  have  already 
seen  that  the  doctrine  was  laid  down  in  the  first  edition  of  his 
"Institutes,"  though  not  so  methodically  as  in  the  subsequent 
ones.  At  all  events,  however,  it  does  not  appear  that,  up  | 
the  rather  advanced  period  of  his  life  to  which  our  narrative 
has  now  brought  us,  Calvin  had  attempted  to  enforce  his 
theory  with  any  practical  severity.  In  his  tract  "  De  Scan- 
dalis,"  published  in  this  very  year,  1551,  he  had  expressed 
himself  with  much  moderation  on  the  subject;  reproving  all 
vain  curiosity,  and  exhorting  to  sobriety  of  judgment,  and  to 
acquiescence  in  what  Scripture  reveals  concerning  it,  without 
searching  any  further.^  In  the  preface,  too,  to  his  French 
version  of  Melancthon's  "  Loci,"  which,  as  already  mentioned, 
he  pubhshed  in  1546,  and  of  which  a  second  edition  appeared 
in  1551,  we  find  the  following  remarkable  passage:  "The 
same  with  regard  to  predestination.  Since  he  (Melancthon) 
sees  at  present  so  many  light-minded  persons  who  abandon 
themselves  too  much  to  curiosity,  and  observe  no  moderation 
in  this  matter,  in  order  to  avoid  this  danger,  he  has  chosen 
to  treat  only  of  what  is  necessary  to  be  known,  and  to  leave 
the  rest,  as  it  were,  buried,  rather  than,  by  drawing  all  the 
conclusions  he  well  might  have  done,  to  give  the  rein?,  to 
many  perplexed  and  intricate  disputes,  which,  hoivever,  pro- 
duce no  fruits  of  useful  instruction.  I  confess,  indeed,  that 
whatever  be  the  consequence,  nothing  which  it  has  pleased 
God  to  reveal  to  us  in  Scripture,  should  be  suppressed.  But 
he  who  seeks  profitably  to  instruct  his  readers  may  well  be 
excused  if  he  stop  short  at  what  he  knows  will  be  most  expe- 
dient, passing  lightly  over,  or  leaving  entirely  behind,  that 
which  he  does  not  expect  to  profit."'' 

A  passage  in  Calvin's  tract  ''  De  ctterna  Dei  Prcedestifia- 
tione,''  written  toward  the  close  of  the  same  year,  but  after 
his  dispute  with  Bolsec,  forms  a  remarkable  contrast  with  the 
preceding  one.     He  there  says:  "My  Institutes,  to  cite  noth- 

^  See  De  (zternd  Dei  Prcedestinatione,  Opera,  viii.,  621,  B. 

2  Calvin  et  I'Eglise  de  Ginive  [Reformations  Aim.  French  translation, 
Geneve,  p.  95). 

3  Calvin,  Opera,  viii.,  75,  B. 

*  From  the  second  edition,  G6neve,  1551. 


324  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ing  else,  are  sufficient  evidence  of  my  sentiments  on  this  sub- 
ject. I  would  particularly  request  my  readers  to  recollect 
what  I  there  inculcate  :  namely,  that  this  is  not,  as  some 
falsely  think,  a  subtle  or  thorny  speculation,  calculated  to 
weary  the  7nind,  without  any  fruit ;  but  a  iveighty  argu- 
ment, and  excellently  adapted  to  the  furthering  of  piety. 
For  it  is  one  which  may  well  build  up  our  faith,  teach  us 
humility,  and  excite  us  to  admire  and  celebrate  God's  ines- 
timable goodness  toward  us."  ^ 

In  a  theologian,  whose  consistency  nas  been  so  much  vaunt- 
ed, these  variations  of  opinion  are  very  striking.  Can  it  have 
been  that  the  irritation  caused  by  Bolsec's  opposition  to  his 
doctrine,  led  Calvin  to  assert  it  with  more  strictness  and  in- 
tolerance than  before  ?  On  this  point  the  reader  must  form 
his  own  opinion  from  the  history  of  the  case,  which  I  shall 
now  proceed  to  relate. 

It  was  early  in  the  year  1551,  that  Hieronymus  Hermes 
Bolsec,  afterward  known  by  his  biography  of  Calvin,  came 
to  Geneva,  and  established  himself  as  a  physician.  He  Avas 
a  native  of  Paris,  and  had  at  first  been  a  Carmelite  m.onk; 
but  giving  vent  to  some  opinions  of  too  free  a  character  re- 
specting the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  had  found  it  expedient 
to  doff  the  hood,  and  to  fly  to  Italy,  where  he  was  received 
and  protected  by  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara.  Here  he  married 
and  adopted  for  a  livelihood  the  profession  of  medicine  :  a 
calling  which  in  those  days  of  frequent  pestilence,  arising 
from  ignorance  of  the  saving  powers  of  diet  and  cleanliness, 
and  when  a  new  and  terrible  disorder  had  begun  to  visit 
Europe,  offered  one  of  the  surest  resources  against  poverty. 
Beza,  in  his  "  Life  of  Calvin,"  represents  Bolsec  as  having 
been  expelled  from  Ferrara  for  some  deception  which  he  had 
practiced  on  the  duchess.  That  writer,  however,  subse- 
quently proved  a  more  bitter  enemy  to  Bolsec  even  than  Cal- 
vin himself,  and  his  testimony  must  therefore  be  received  with 
caution.  At  all  events,  Bolsec's  character  stood  sufficiently 
well  at  the  time  of  his  first  visiting  Geneva,  where  he  suc- 
ceeded in  acquiring  the  acquaintance  and  friendship  of  some 
of  the  leading  people.  He  had  not  long  been  there  when  he 
began  to  question  Calvin's  doctrine  of  predestination,  in  the 
circles  which  he  frequented.     He  could  scarcely  have  commit- 

1  Calvin,  however,  introduces  two  or  three  sentences  into  the  dedication 
of  his  tract  ^'^Deceternd  Dei  PrtEdestinatione ;"  in  order,  apparently,  to  soften 
down  the  glaring  inconsistency  between  that  work  and  his  preface  to  the 
**Locir 


CALVIN'S  ACCOUNT  OP  BOLSEC'S  TENETS.  226 

ted  a  more  unpardonable  offense.  It  came  to  Calvin's  ears. 
Bolsec  was  sent  for,  privately  admonished,  and  instructed  in 
that  profound  mystery.  These  admonitions  proved,  however, 
unavaihng ;  and  for  a  second  offense  Bolsec  was  summoned 
before  the  consistory,  and  openly  reprehended.  Calvin  has 
given  an  account  of  this  part  of  the  case  in  the  following 
letter  to  Christopher  Libertet. 

"  You  are  much  deceived,  my  dear  Christopher,  if  you 
think  that  the  eternal  decrees  of  God  can  be  so  mutilated,  as 
that  he  shall  have  chosen  some  to  salvation,  but  destined 
none  to  destruction.  For  if  he  chose  some,  it  surely  follows 
that  all  were  not  elected :  and  of  these  latter  what  else  can 
be  said  but  that  they  were  left  to  themselves  that  th-ey  might 
perish?  There  must  therefore  be  a  mutual  relation  between 
the  elect  and  the  reprobate.  Jerome  Bolsec  acknowledges 
indeed  in  words  that  a  certain  number  is  elected  by  God,  but 
on  being  urged  more  closely  he  is  obliged  to  extend  election 
to  all  mankind.  For  he  openly  maintains  that  grace  effica- 
cious to  salvation  is  equally  offered  to  all ;  and  that  the  cause 
why  some  receive  and  others  reject  it,  lies  in  the  free  will  of 
those  who  by  their  own  proper  motion  follow  God  who  calls 
them.  Nor  does  he  dissemble  that  all  men  are  so  endowed 
with  free  will,  that  the  power  of  obtaining  salvation  is  placed 
at  their  disposal.  In  this  manner  you  see  that  predestination 
is  torn  up  by  the  roots,  and  free  will  set  up  as,  in  some  de- 
gree at  least,  procuring  our  salvation.  But  it  is  something 
more  than  ridiculous  that  Jerome,  who  confesses  to  free  will, 
should  yet  abhor  the  name  of  merits.  For  how  can  he  be 
deprived  of  merit  who  is  reckoned  among  the  sons  of  God, 
because  he  has  conformed  himself  to  the  grace  of  adoption 
which  was  offered  to  him  ?  That  this  was  his  meaning,  or 
rather  that  he  was  possessed  by  such  a  madness,  he  had  be- 
fore sufficiently  shown.  He  was  called  before  our  assembly, 
when,  in  spite  of  his  cavils,  I  dragged  him  from  his  hiding- 
place  into  the  light.  Besides  the  fifteen  ministers,  other 
competent  witnesses  were  present ;  and  all  know  that  if  he 
had  a  single  drop  of  modesty  he  would  have  been  immedi- 
ately converted.  At  first  he  used  trifling  and  puerile  cavils  ; 
but  being  more  closely  pressed  he  threw  aside  all  shame. 
Sometimes  he  denied  what  he  had  twice  or  thrice  conceded, 
and  then  again  admitted  what  he  had  questioned ;  he  not 
only  vacillated,  but  sometimes  entirely  abandoned  his  prin- 
ciples ;  and  kept  revolving  in  the  same  circle  without  meas- 
ure or  end.     Nor  could  it  have  been  otherwise.     For,  un- 


226  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

less  we  confess  that  those  who  come  to  Christ  are  drawn  by 
the  Father,  and  that  this  is  by  the  pecuHar  operation  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  on  the  elect ;  it  follows  either  that  all  must  be 
promiscuously  elected,  or  that  the  cause  of  election  lies  in 
each  man's  merit.  If  it  be  maintained  that  reprobation  be- 
gins only  with  man's  second  contumacy,  it  follows  that  God 
has  no  certain  design,  and  that  his  resolution  as  to  what  he 
shall  do  with  every  individual  is  suspended.  Jerome  admits 
that  we  are  all  naturally  depraved,  and  holds  that  the  grace 
of  God  is  offered  to  all  to  correct  the  innate  depravity  of  our 
nature.  But  he  feigns  that  some  by  their  own  free  will  ad- 
mit this  correction,  so  that  it  may  be  efficacious  ;  and  that 
others  who  might  have  the  same  liberty,  by  rejecting  it,  be- 
come twice  contumacious  ;  and  hence  he  deduces  his  fictitious 
reprobation.  Who  does  not  see  that  in  this  manner  the 
eternal  decree  of  God  is  subjected  to  the  will  of  man  ?  And 
yet  you  imagine  that  you  see  I  know  not  what  elegance  in  so 
gross  an  absurdity  I  For  my  part,  if  I  know  any  thing  of 
divinity,  I  think  this  is  a  far  more  stupid  and  absurd  inven- 
tion than  that  of  the  papists  was.  If  the  fruit  of  election  be 
a  good  and  proper  will  in  man,  it  follows  that  the  reprobate 
are  inclined  to  evil  by  all  the  affections  of  their  hearts.  Nor 
does  Paul  (Romans,  ix.,  16),  when  he  denies  that  it  is  of 
him  that  willeth,  attribute  a  vain  and  imperfect  will  to  the 
reprobate,  but  rather  teaches  that  when  they  who  were  pre- 
viously averse  from  all  rectitude,  begin  to  have  a  good  will, 
and  to  walk  in  the  right  path,  it  is  owing  to  the  mercy  of 
God.  Let  people,  therefore,  cease  to  place  the  source  and 
first  cause  of  the  separation  between  the  elect  and  the  rep- 
robate in  the  human  will,  if  they  would  leave  any  room  for 
the  election  of  God."  ^ 

At  that  time,  as  we  have  seen,  a  custom  prevailed  at 
Geneva  somewhat  resembling  the  "  Prophesy ings,"  used  in 
some  parts  of  England  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  The 
ministers  preached  by  turns  at  St.  Peter's  on  a  Friday  ;  and 
these  sermons  were  not  only  open  to  the  criticism  of  their 
brethren,  but  even  laymen  were  permitted  to  step  forth  and 
propose  difficulties  or  objections.  On  the  16th  of  October, 
1 551,  a  numerous  congregation  was  assembled.  The  preacher, 
John  de  St.  Andre,  took  his  text  from  John,  yiii.,  47  :  "  He 
that  is  of  God  heareth  God's  words  ;  ye  therefore  hear  them 
not,  because  ye  are  not  of  God  :"  which  he  explained  to  mean, 
that  they  who  are  not  of  God,  oppose  him  to  the  last,  be- 

1  Ep.  135. 


BOLSEC  INDICTED.  227 

cause  God  grants  the  grace  of  obedience  only  to  his  elect. 
Suddenly  Bolsec  stepped  forth  from  the  crowd,  and  opposed 
the  preacher's  views,  with  many  unbecoming  expressions. 
He  entered  into  an  argument  to  show  that  men  are  not 
saved  because  they  are  elected,  but  that  they  are  elected 
because  they  have  faith;  and  that  nobody  is  reprobated  by 
the  absolute  decree  of  God,  except  those  who,  by  their  own 
fault,  deprive  themselves  of  the  election  offered  to  all.  "  How 
can  you  believe,"  he  exclaimed,  "  that  God  decides  the  fate 
of  man  before  his  birth,  consigning  some  to  sin  and  punish- 
ment, others  to  virtue  and  eternal  happiness  ?  It  is  a  false 
and  godless  notion,  introduced  by  Laurentius  Valla,  which 
would  ascribe  the  origin  of  sin  and  evil  to  God,  as  the  an- 
cient poets  ascribed  it  to  Jove.  Would  you  convert  a  just 
and  eternal  Being  into  a  thoughtless  tyrant,  deprive  virtue 
of  its  excellence,  vice  of  its  shame,  and  the  wicked  of  their 
pangs  of  conscience?"^  Nay,  he  even  quoted  the  Fathers, 
and  loading  the  clergy  with  abuse,  exhorted  the  people  not  to 
be  led  astray. 

It  has  been  conjectured  that  Bolsec  was  set  on  by  Calvin's 
enemies  ;  and  his  audacity  was  probably  increased  by  not  see- 
ing the  head  of  the  Genevese  church  in  his  accustomed  seat. 
But  during  his  harangue  Calvin  had  entered  the  church  un- 
observed ;  and,  hidden  among  the  spectators,  had  listened  in 
silence  to  Bolsec's  attack  on  his  grand  doctrine.  When  Bolsec 
had  finished,  he  pushed  through  the  circle,  and  suddenly  pre- 
senting himself  before  the  orator,  overwhelmed  him  for  a  long 
time  with  arguments  supported  by  texts  from  Scripture,  and 
unpremeditated  quotations  from  St.  Augustin.^  Farel,  who 
chanced  to  be  present,  also  addressed  the  assembly  with  fervor.^ 
All  seemed  ashamed,  except  the  monk  himself,  who  stood  con- 
founded, indeed,  but  unabashed.  With  him  the  most  con- 
vincing reasoner  seems  to  have  been  the  lieutenant  of  police  ; 
which  officer,  being  among  the  audience,  apprehended  Bolsec 
for  abusing  the  ministers  and  disturbing  the  public  peace. 

On  such  an  occasion  Calvin's  zeal  needed  no  spur.  The 
very  same  afternoon  the  ministers  assembled,  and  drew  up 
seventeen  articles  against  "  un  Quidam  nomme  Hierosme ;" 
which  they  presented  to  the  council,  with  a  request  that  he 
should  be  interrogated  concerning  them.*     In  some  of  these 

1  Calvin,  Ep.  133.  2  Beza,  Vita  Calv.  3  Ruchat,  v.,  458. _ 

*  These  articles,  together  with  Bolsec's  answers,  &c.,  will  be  found  in 

Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  Beil.  ii.,  and  also  in  P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  ii.,  from  a  copy 

in  the  archives  of  Berne. 


228  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

articles  Calvin's  doctrine  is  stated  in  the  driest  and  nakedest 
terms,  and  a  categorical  answer  required,  in  a  manner  which, 
on  a  subject  at  once  so  awful  and  so  abstruse,  appears  most 
repulsive.  The  following  two  or  three  will  serve  by  way  of 
specimen  of  the  spiritual  tyranny  exercised  by  Calvin.  Bol- 
sec's  answers,  which  are  subjoined,  seem  to  breathe  a  more 
humble  and  Christian  spirit. 

"  Article  x. — Item,  If  he  does  not  believe  that  God,  before 
he  saw  any  difference  between  men,  elected  some  and  rejected 
others?" 

"  Answer. — I  reply  that  we  should  not  say  that  God  has 
a  foreknowledge  of  one  thing  more  than  of  another,  for  in  Him 
is  neither  present  nor  future,  but  all  things  are  present  to  Him 
at  once.  I  therefore  say,  that  He  sees  at  one  view  the  differ- 
ence between  the  faithful  and  the  unfaithful,  and  the  election 
of  one  and  reprobation  of  the  other." 

"  Article  xi. — Item,  If  it  does  not  proceed  from  an  ad- 
mirable design  of  God,  the  first  cause  of  which  is  unknown  to 
us,  that  some  are  led  and  others  not  ?" 

"  Answer. — I  reply  that  I  do  not  wish  to  enter  into  this 
admirable  and  secret  design  of  God  ;  and  that  it  suffices  me 
to  confine  myself  to  His  simple  word,  which  tells  us  that  they 
who  believe  in  His  Son  shall  be  saved,  while  the  faithless 
shall  be  condemned ;  and  that  He  has  sent  His  Son  into  the 
world  in  order  that  all  might  believe  in  Him.  Wherefore, 
observing  that  Scripture  leads  us  no  further,  it  might  suffice 
to  stop  there,  without  proceeding  to  puzzle  the  understanding 
of  the  simple." 

"  Article  xii. — Item,  That  when  the  gospel  is  preached, 
whether  the  cause  why  some  believe,  and  others  not,  be  not 
that  God  calls  efficaciously  those  whom  He  has  predestined 
to  salvation  ?" 

"  Answer. — I  reply  that  I  do  not  conceive  that  God  has 
predestined  to  save  some  rather  than  others,  but  that  He  has 
predestined  to  save  those  who  believe  through  His  efficacious 
grace  ;  and  that  in  others  who  reject  the  faith,  the  grace  of 
God,  which  produces  faith,  is  not  efficacious  because  they  do 
not  value  and  esteem  it  as  they  ought ;  so  that  their  sin  in 
not  beheving  proceeds  from  their  contempt  and  rebellion,  and 
not  from  the  decree  of  God." 

These  questions  show  that  Calvin,  in  spite  of  the  discretion 
which  he  sometimes  thought  fit  to  recommend  on  this  subject, 
would  not  only  himself  know  the  cause,  and  be  in  the  secret 
of  all  God's  designs,  but  even  make  others  subscribe  implicitly 


BOLSEO  mOICTED.  .     229 

to  his  opinions.  Yet  in  his  own  case,  when  he  appeared  be- 
fore the  synod  of  Lausanne  in  1539,  he  positively  refused  to 
subscribe  the  three  ancient  creeds  of  the  Church,  when  re- 
quired to  do  so  at  the  instance  of  Caroh,  although  he  professed 
to  believe  in  them;  and  this  solely  on  the  ground  that  he 
would  not  sanction  the  introduction  of  such  a  tyranny  into 
the  Church  as  should  permit  one  person  to  compel  another  to 
declare  his  faith. ^  So  dangerous  is  the  possession  of  absolute 
authority  I  and  so  apt  are  the  sentiments  of  the  wisest  and 
most  consistent  men  to  be  swayed  by  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  may  happen  to  be  placed. 

Bolsec,  in  his  turn,  proposed  several  questions  to  Calvin,  to 
which  he  required  him  to  answer  categorically,  "  without  hu- 
man reasons  and  vain  similitudes,  but  simply  according  to  the 
word  of  God."  The  style  of  these  questions,  some  of  w^hich 
are  very  pertinent,  must  doubtless  have  proved  highly  offensive 
to  Calvin,  so  long  accustomed  to  domineer  without  opposition 
in  such  matters.  "  These  questions,"  says  Dr.  Henry,  "  which 
possess  something  attractive  for  all  ages,  inasmuch  as  they  rep- 
resent the  views  of  a  sound  and  natural  feeling,  but  with  which 
the  church  {i.  e.  Calvin),  being  compelled  to  go  further  in 
order  to  repress  Pelagianism,  could  not  agree,  laid  apparently 
the  ground  for  Calvin's  work  on  election,  which  appeared 
shortly  afterward."^ 

As,  in  his  answer  to  Calvin's  fifth  interrogatory,  Bolsec  had 
asserted  that  his  opinions  were  shared,  among  others,  by  Me- 
lancthon,  Bullinger,  and  Brenz,  the  consistory  requested  the 
council  not  to  pass  any  judgment  on  his  case  till  the  Swiss 
churches  had  been  consulted.  The  council  accordingly  wrote 
to  those  of  Zurich,  Berne,  and  Basle,  sending  them  a  list  of 
Bolsec's  errors,  and  requesting  their  advice  as  to  how  they 
should  proceed  with  him.  The  errors  imputed  to  him  were 
the  following  five  : 

1.  That  faith  depends  not  on  election,  but  that  election 
proceeds  from  faith. 

2.  That  nobody  remains  in  his  blindness  from  the  corrup- 
tion of  his  nature,  since  all  have  the  requisite  enlightenment 
from  God  ;  and  that  it  is  an  insult  toward  God  to  say  that 
He  abandons  some  to  their  blindness,  because  it  is  His  pleasure 
to  do  so. 

3.  That  God  leads  to  Himself  all  rational  creatures,  and 
that,  at  first,  He  abandons  none,  but  only  those  who  have 
often  resisted  Him. 

1  See  above,  chap,  ii.,  p.  70  =*  I^hen  Calvins,  iii.,  52 


230  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN 

4.  That  the  making  of  a  heart  of  stone  into  a  heart  of  flesh, 
means  only,  that  God  gives  us  a  heart  capable  of  understand- 
ing ;  but  that  this  grace  is  universal,  and  that  some  are  not 
more  predestinated  to  salvation  than  others. 

5.  That  Vi^hen  St.  Paul  says  (Ephes.,  i.,  5),  that  God  has 
elected  us  through  Jesus  Christ,  this  does  not  regard  election 
to  salvation,  but  the  election  of  disciples,  and  of  St.  Paul  him- 
self to  the  office  of  an  Apostle.^ 

With  regard  to  this  last  point,  Calvin  observes  in  a  letter 
to  the  ministers  of  Basle.  "  "When  I  objected  to  him  that  in 
that  case  the  Apostles  alone  would  be  capable  of  gratuitous 
election,  they  alone  reconciled  with  God,  they  alone  presented 
with  the  remission  of  their  sins,  he  was  so  far  from  being 
touched  that  he  heard  these  thunders  with  a  dog's  grin."^ 

Besides  this  letter  of  the  council's,  a  circular  was  also  ad- 
dressed to  the  same  churches  by  Calvin  and  his  colleagues, 
which  has  been  already  quoted,  for  the  account  of  Bolsec's 
behavior  during  the  dispute  at  St.  Peter's.^  It  speaks  in  the 
most  offensive  and  contemptuous  terms  of  Bolsec,  who,  at  that 
time,  at  least,  does  not  seem  to  have  deserved  the  imputations 
cast  upon  him.  He  was  well  received  in  the  Genevese  circles, 
and  was,  in  particular,  patronized  by  M.  de  Fallals,  and  his 
wife,  Mad.  de  Brederode,  persons  of  nobility  and  distinction, 
who  had  left  their  country  for  the  sake  of  religion,  and  who 
were  at  that  time  actually  living  in  Calvin's  house,  at  his  own 
pressing  solicitation.  But  as  Ruchat  remarks,  "  Calvin  was, 
as  every  body  knows,  a  great  zealot  for  the  doctrine  of  predes- 
tination and  election.  He  frequently  preached  it  with  warmth, 
regarded  it  almost  as  the  basis  and  foundation  of  religion,  and 
treated  those  who  rejected  it,  without  ceremony,  as  scoundrels, 
rogues,  and  worthless  fellows."* 

The  circular  in  question  begins  as  follows  :  "  We  have 
here  a  certain  Jerome,  who,  having  laid  aside  the  monk's 
hood,  is  become  one  of  those  doctors  of  the  market-place, 
who,  by  means  of  cheating  and  deception,  acquire  such  a  de- 
gree of  impudence,  that  they  are  fit  and  willing  to  venture 
upon  any  thing."  Then,  after  detailing  Bolsec's  case,  as  al- 
ready related,  the  letter  proceeds  :  *'  As  he  boasted  that  there 
were  many  ministers  in  other  churches  who  shared  in  his 
views,  we  begged  our  council  not  to  pronounce  its  judgment 
till  it  should  receive  the  answer  of  your  church,  and  thus 
learn  that  the  scoundrel  wickedly  and  abusively  pleaded  your 

1  Ruchat,  v.,  459.  ^i  Ep.  134. 

3  Ep.  133.  4  Reformation  de  la  Suisse,  v.,  456. 


BOLSEC'S  LIFE  IN  DANGER.  23J 

suffrage.  At  first  he  was  ashamed  to  decline  this  appeal  to 
the  churches ;  but  he  carped  at  it,  on  the  ground  that  your 
familiarity  with  our  brother  Calvin  would  justly  render  you 
liable  to  suspicion.  The  council,  however,  acceded  to  our 
request,  and  resolved  that  you  should  be  consulted.  Bolsec, 
moreover,  dragged  your  church  into  the  affair.  For,  while 
he  particularly  condemned  Zwingli,  he  falsely  affirmed  that 
Bullinger  was  of'  his  own  opinion.  In  the  Bernese  ministers 
he  also  slily  sought  a  handle  for  discord.  It  is  our  wish  that 
our  Church  should  be  'purged  from  this  pest  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  it  may  not,  by  being  driven  thence,  become  injurious 
to  our  neighbors. '" 

What  could  this  last  sentence  mean  ?  The  church  of 
Geneva  was  to  be  delivered  from  the  pest,  which  was  not, 
however,  to  be  driven  thence.  The  problem  how  this  could 
be  accomplished  admits  but  of  two  solutions  :  perpetual  im- 
prisonment, 'or  death.  At  that  time,  however,  the  former 
punishment  was  but  little  customary.  A  short  poem,  com- 
posed by  Bolsec  while  in  prison,  evidently  shows  that  he  con- 
sidered his  life  in  danger.  In  the  course  of  it  the  following 
lines  occur : 

"En  prison  suis  comme  meurtrier  inique, 
Comme  mechaut  qui  a  tout  mal  s' applique ; 
Prive  de  biens  et  d'amis  je  demeure, 
Ou  va  criant — Tolle,  tolle,  qu'il  meure." 

In  the  course  of  these  doggerels  he  naturally  enough  expresses 
astonishment  that  he  should  be  subjected  to  these  persecutions 
at  Geneva,  the  fountain-head  of  religious  liberty  :  V 

"En  mes  travaux  I'entendement  s'eleve, 
Considerant  que  je  suis  en  Geneve, 
dui  a  chasse  las  abuseurs  Papistes, 
Sorbonniqueurs,  et  tels  autres  sophistes ; 
Et  toutefois  pour  la  parole  pure 
De  Jesus  Christ  en  Geneve  j'endure  !" 

He  concludes,  however,  with  expressions  of  constancy  and 
reliance  upon  God  : 

"  Sus  done,  mon  coeur,  reprens  vigueur  et  force 
Chasse  douleurs,  et  de  chanter  t'efforce — 
Louange  a  Dieu !  qui  pour  ton  salut  veille  ; 
II  est  pour  toi,  quelque  mal  qu'on  le  veuille, 
Chasse  les  pleurs,  jette  douleur  amere, 
Pour  louer  Dieu,  pour  invoquer  ton  pere  !"  ^ 

A  passage  in  the  answer  of  the  Bernese  council  to  that  of 
Geneva  shows  that  they  also  suspected  Calvin  of  desiring  to 
push  the  proceedings  against  Bolsec  to  the  extent  of  capital 
I  The  poem  will  be  found  at  length  in  P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  2. 


232  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

,  punishment :  for  they  strongly  deprecate  such  a  course  on  the 
ground  of  its  impolicy,  as  being  calculated  to  stimulate  the 
persecution  of  the  Protestants  in  France  and  other  parts. ^ 
That  such  a  suspicion  should  have  been  entertained  shows 
V  that  a  strong  opinion  must  have  been  already  formed  respect- 
ing Calvin's  intolerance ;  for  as  yet  there  was  nothing  in  his 
'published  works  which  tended  to  justify  the  capital  punish- 
ment of  real  or  pretended  heretics,  bat  the  contrary.  The 
immediate  cause  of  the  suspicion  of  the  Bernese  was,  doubt- 
less, however,  the  passage  just  alluded  to  in  the  Genevese 
letter. 

Calvin  himself  denied,  in  his  preface  to  the  Consensus  Pas- 
torum,  as  well  as  in  a  private  letter  to  Bullinger,  that  He  had 
harbored  any  such  design,  and  affirmed  that  the  rumor  of  it 
was  a  malicious  invention  of  his  enemies.^  If  we  are  to  take 
him  at  his  word,  we  can  only  fall  back  on  the  other  alterna- 
tive, and  assume  that  the  meaning  of  his  ambiguous  phrase 
was  imprisonment  for  life :  a  tolerably  hard  punishment  for 
presuming  to  differ  with  him  on  so  abstruse  a  point.  As  he 
considered  most  of  his  opponents  to  be  reprobates,  it  may  be 
that  his  rigid  doctrine  of  predestination  caused  him  to  treat 
Y  them  with  the  more  severity  :  for  why  should  he  spare  a  man 
whom  God  had  condemned  from  all  eternity  ?  In  the  present 
instance,  however,  he  may  have  been  determined  to  a  milder 
course,  by  the  nature  of  the  replies  from  the  Swiss  churches, 
which  we  shall  now  consider. 

These  replies  were  very  unsatisfactory  to  Calvin.  It  is 
true  that  the  verdict  was,  on  the  whole,  in  his  favor ;  but  the 
terms  in  which  it  was  expressed  were  both  vague  and  moder- 
ate ;  and  the  most  material  point  of  the  controversy — repro- 
bation— was  evaded.  The  reply  of  the  Basle  ministers  was 
very  short.  They  expressed  a  desire  not  to  penetrate  too 
deeply  into  the  mystery,  but  to  leave  it  in  the  hands  of  God.^ 
The  answer  of  Bullinger  and  the  Zurich  ministers  was  par- 
ticularly annoying  to  Calvin.  In  their  public  letter  to  the 
council  ■  of  Geneva,  they  re^rred  to  what  had  been  said  on 
the  subject  in  question  in  the  Consensus  agreed  upon  between 
themselves  and  the  Genevese  church  in  1549,  as  embracing 

1  "Car  certes  si  le  ditHieronyme  dut  soufFrir  a  cause  de  son  erreor  puni- 
tion  de  corps  ou  de  vie,  est  a  craindre  que  non  seulement  en  ce  pays,  mais 
aussi  en  France  et  ailleurs  Ton  en  prendra  grand  regret  et  occasion  de  plus 

,      grande  malevolonte  contre  vous  et  les  votres,  aussi  contra  tous  ceux  de  la 
religion  evangelique." — See  P.  Henry,  iii.,  56,  note. 

2  Calvin  to  Bullinger,  .Tan.  21st,  1.552  (MS.  Tig.,  Ibid.) 

'  Their  letter  will  be  found  in  P.  Henry,  iii.,  52.  < 


BULLINGER'S  ADVICE  TO  CALVIN.  233 

all  that  was  necessary  for  the  pious.  The  main  point  at  issue 
— absolute  and  eternal  reprobation — was  passed  over  in  si- 
lence :  nay,  they  even  seemed  to  attribute  something  to  the 
will.^  In  this  letter  the  Zurich  ministers  defend  Zwingli,  the 
great  founder  of  their  church,  from  an  imputation  cast  upon 
him  by  Bolsec,  to  the  effect  that  he  held  that  men  were  driven 
by  necessity,  and  therefore  compelled  by  God,  to  sin.  They 
admit,  indeed,  that  something  of  this  sort  might  be  inferred 
from  his  book  on  the  Providence  of  God ;  but  they  refer  to 
other  both  earlier  and  later  works  of  his,  in  which  sin  is 
ascribed  to  the  corruption  of  the  human  will. 

If  Calvin  disliked  this  public  letter  of  the  Zurich  minis- 
ters, a  private  one  that  BuUinger  addressed  to  him  was  still 
more  unacceptable.  In  this  Bullinger  strongly  impressed 
upon  him  the  necessity  for  mildness  and  moderation.  "  Be- 
lieve me,"  said  he,  "  many  are  displeased  at  what  you  say  in, 
your  Institutes  about  election,  and  draw  the  same  conclusions 
from  it  as  Bolsec  has  done  from  Zwingli's  book  on  Provi- 
dence :"  adding,  "  According  to  the  sentiments  of  the  Apos- 
tles, God  wills  the  happiness  of  all  mankind."^ 

Calvin  expressed  the  displeasure  which  he  felt  at  the  opin- 
ion of  Bullinger  and  the  Zurich  clergy  in  a  letter  to  Farel 
(Jan.  27th,  1552),  in  which  he  says  :  "  Your  letter,  in  which 
you  requested  me  to  swallow  in  silence  the  injury  done  me  by 
my  neighbors,  came  too  late.  With  respect  to  the  Zurichers 
the  die  had  been  cast  three  days  before ;  and,  though  the 
remedy  was  in  my  power,  I  did  not  choose  to  recall  the  letter 
which  had  been  sent.  I  was  compelled  afterward  to  write  to 
those  of  Basle,^  with  whose  empty  and  frigid  answer  I  was  at 
first  not  a  little  offended  :  but  those  which  afterward  arrived 
from  others  contained  such  indignities  as  easily  reconciled  me 
with  it.  You  are  much  deceived  in  thinking  that  the  Zu- 
richers will  hereafter  see  their  fault  spontaneously.  Expect 
rather  that  they  will  deny  the  election  of  God  altogether.  It 
was  a  wonderful  providence  that,  without  having  such  a  de- 
sign, I  so  bound  them  by  the  terms  of  our  Consensus,  that 
they  are  at  least  deprived  of  the  power  to  hurt  us ;  for  I 
have  been  told  by  a  certain  person  that,  otherwise,  they 
would  now  be  Bolsac's  patrons.""*  This  affair  caused  a  mis- 
understanding and  coldness  for  some  time  between  Calvin 
and  Bullinger.^ 

1  See  their  letter,  Dec.  1st,  1551  (MS.  Tig.,  Ibid.,  Beil.  2). 
a  Ibid.,  p.  55.  3  See  Ep.  134. 

*  P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  22.  ^  Trechsel,  i.,  188. 


\i 


234  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

But  of  all  the  letters  written  on  this  occasion  that  of  the 
ministers  of  Berne  is  the  most  remarkable  for  its  mild  and 
tolerant  spirit ;  which  is  so  strongly  impressed  upon  it,  that 
it  would  almost  seem  to  be  the  production  of  a  later  age. 
After  applauding  the  zeal  for  unity  displayed  by  the  Genevese 
ministers,  those  of  Berne  proceeded  to  say  :  "  Still  we  feel 
that  the  greatest  care  should  be  taken  not  to  treat  the  erring 
too  severely,  lest  by  immoderately  vindicating  purity  of  doc- 
trine we  desert  the  rule  of  Christ's  spirit,  and  transgress  that 
brotherly  charity  by  which  we  are  reckoned  his  disciples. 
Truth  is  dear  to  Christ :  granted,  but  so  also  are  the  lives  of 
his  sheep ;  not  only  of  those  which  walk  in  the  truth  without 
offense,  but  also  of  those  which  go  astray  :  nay,  according  to 
the  gospel  parable,  the  good  Shepherd  hath  even  a  greater 
care  of  the  latter.  This  you  know  yourselves ;  we  are  not 
teaching  the  ignorant,  but  admonishing  the  wise.  Most  of  us 
are  so  constituted  that  in  this  sort  of  controversies  it  usually 
happens  that  in  our  zeal  to  defend  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
doctrine  we  neglect  what  is  required  of  us  by  a  spirit  of  char- 
ity and  Christian  gentleness,  and  are  carried  away  by  our  fer- 
vor, and  our  desire  of  upholding  the  truth,  into  a  conduct  un- 
becoming the  disciples  of  Christ.  As  if,  forsooth,  the  love  of 
charity  were  incompatible  with  a  zealous  maintenance  of  the 
truth  I  when  fa  fact  the  union  of  both  proceeds  from  the 
most  genuine  Christian  spirit ;  than  which,  as  nothing  is  more 
averse  from  falsehood,  so  nothing  is  more  given  to  meekness 
and  charity.  We  approve  your  desire  of  upholding  the  true 
doctrine,  and  we  pray  God  that  as  he  hath  sanctified  you  in 
his  truth,  so  he  will  preserve  you  in  it  to  the  end,  against  the 
prince  of  all  falsehood,  to  your  own  good,  and  that  of  many 
others.  At  the  same  time  we  beseech  you  to  reflect  how 
prone  the  human  understanding  is  to  error ;  and  on  the  other 
hand  how  noble,  and  therefore  how  much  easier  it  is,  to  win 
a  man  back  by  gentleness  than  to  compel  him  by  severity. 
As  to  the  particular  cause  of  the  dispute  between  yourselves 
and  Jerome,  you  can  not  be  ignorant  of  the  perplexity  it  has 
occasioned  to  many  good  men,  and  of  whom,  in  other  respects, 
we  can  not  think  so  ill :  who,  when  they  read  those  texts  of 
holy  Scripture  which  proclaim  the  universal  grace  of  God, 
want  judgment  rightly  to  perceive  and  acknowledge  the  aw- 
ful mysteries  of  divine  election  and  predestination  ;  but  cling 
to  the  announcement  of  God's  universal  grace  and  goodness, 
and  think  it  can  not  be  said  of  him  that  he  reprobates,  blinds, 
and  hardens  any  man,  without  at  the  same  time  saying,  with 


LETTER  OF  THE  BERNESE  MINISTERS.  235 

a  blasphemous  inference,  that  he  is  the  author  of  human 
bUndness  and  perdition,  and,  consequently,  of  all  the  sms  that 
are  committed." 

Then,  after  quoting  several  texts  in  favor  of  universal 
grace,  the  Bernese  ministers  proceed  :  "  Many,  by  no  means 
bad  men,  so  adhere  to  these  texts,  that  they  are  unable  to 
look  with  the  pure  eyes  of  faith  on  the  cause  of  divine  pre- 
destination ;  concerning  which  some  have  not  idly  admonished 
that  we  should  speak  the  more  cautiously  and  circumspectly, 
because  it  is  not  milk  for  babes,  but  food  for  men.  And  so 
this  Jerome  clearly  shows  that  he  belongs  to  this  weaker  sort, 
inasmuch  as  he  refuses  to  enter  upon  this  secret  counsel  of 
God.  These  things  we  mention,  not  as  alien  from  your  own 
conscience,  but,  as  you  have  asked  our  opinion,  that  we  may, 
hke  faithful  servants  of  God,  notify  that  which  in  our  judg- 
ment may  best  serve  both  to  the  peace  and  edification  of  your 
church,  and  lead  the  mind  of  Jerome  himself  to  a  spirit  of 
peace.  He  is  altogether  unknown  to  us,  but  some  say  that 
he  is  not  so  bad  a  man,"^  &c. 

This  letter  betrays  the  good  sense  and  moderation  which 
characterized  the  ministers  of  Berne.  It  was,  indeed,  as  Dr. 
Henry  observes,  a  strong  lecture  for  Calvin ;  but  it  was  one 
from  which  he  needed  not  to  have  been  ashamed  to  profit,  for 
it  breathes  the  genuine  spirit  of  the  gospel.  The  whole  of 
this  correspondence  leaves  the  impression  that  Calvin  had 
quite  miscalculated  his  position.  It  revealed  to  him  that 
Melancthon  and  the  Lutheran  church  were  not  his  only  op- 
ponents on  the  doctrine  in  question  ;  but  that  all  the  Reform- 
ed churches  of  Switzerland  disapproved  of  the  lengths  to 
which  he  pushed  it.  He  found  that  he  stood  almost  by  him- 
self, and  hence  the  angry  and  disappointed  tone  of  his  letter 
to  Farel.  The  effect  of  the  Swiss  letters  was  a  milder  judg- 
ment on  Bolsec.  He  was  sentenced  to  banishment  for  life, 
under  pain  of  being  whipped  if  ever  he  should  be  found 
within  the  city  of  Geneva  or  its  territory.^  Hereupon  he 
retired  to  Thonon. 

This  affair  excited  considerable  discussion  in  the  religious 
circles.  Bolsec's  cause  was  warmly  espoused  by  M.  de  Fallais, 
who,  as  it  has  been  said,  was  at  that  time  dwelling  with 
Calvin ;  but  who  was  so  disgusted  with  his  conduct  on  this 
occasion,  that  he  renounced  his  friendship,  and  quitted  Geneva. 

Jacques  de  Bourgogne,  sieur  de  Fallais  and  Bredam,  was 

1  MS.  Bern.,  apnd  P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  17,  et  seq. 

2  Beza.  VitaCalv. 


236  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

descended  from  the  dukes  of  Burgundy ;  while  his  wife,  Jo- 
lande  de  Brederode,  traced  her  pedigree  from  the  old  counts 
of  Holland.  Between  Calvin  and  this  couple  a  correspond- 
ence had  been  kept  up  from  1545  to  1548,  which  exhibits 
Calvin  in  his  unbent  hours  in  a  pleasanter  light  than  might 
have  been  anticipated,  and  presents  a  favorable  specimen  of 
his  French  style,'  He  had  long  pressed  M.  de  Fallais  to 
come  to  Geneva ;  but  even  the  temptation  of  a  cask  of  old 
wine,  which  he  had  laid  in  expressly,  and  which  he  repre- 
sented as  difficult  to  be  replaced,^  failed  at  first  to  tempt  that 
nobleman.  M.  de  Fallais  seems  to  have  felt,  as  Dr.  Henry 
remarks,^  that  Calvin  was  one  of  those  great  men  whom  it 
is  best  to  know  at  a  certain  distance ;  and,  therefore,  when 
he  left  his  country  for  the  sake  of  religion,  he  at  first  betook 
himself  to  Basle  in  preference  to  Geneva.  In  that  town,  for- 
merly the  residence  of  Erasmus,  as  it  was  then  of  Castellio, 
a  more  elegant  and  liberal  tone  prevailed  in  society,  nor  were 
its  clergy  so  ascetic  and  precise  as  those  of  Geneva.  After 
much  pressing,  however,  M.  de  Fallais  at  length  came  to 
Geneva,  and  took  up  his  abode  with  Calvin  while  the  latter' s 
wife  was  still  alive.  His  residence  at  Basle  had  not  prepared 
him  for  the  acerbity  of  Calvin's  theology ;  and  it  was  with 
surprise  that  he  beheld  the  bitterness  and  morosity  of  the 
modern  Augustin.  He  embraced  the  side  of  his  physician, 
in  whose  views  he  subsequently  declared  his  concurrence ; 
and  not  only  left  Geneva  on  the  banishment  of  Bolsec,  but 
used  all  his  influence  with  the  Bernese  to  induce  them  to 
protect  him.  In  this  he  succeeded,  notwithstanding  Calvin's 
efforts  to  prevent  it,  whose  anger  still  pursued  its  victim. 
Thus  writing  to  Fabri,  in  December,  1551,  Calvin  says  :  "It 
is  of  the  greatest  importance  that  that  knave  should  not  be 
harbored  in  the  Bernese  territories.  I  am  so  ashamed  of  De 
Fallais,  that  I  can  not  bear  the  sight  of  those  who  reproach 
me  with  his  levity."'*  And  in  the  letter  to  the  clergy  of 
Basle,  before  referred  to,  he  observes  ;  "  Let  De  Fallais  write 
what  he  will  about  his  (Bolsec's)  not  being  a  bad  man,  and 
prostitute  his  good  name  to  ridicule  in  favor  of  an  obscure 
scoundrel,  it  will  soon  appear,  and  with  more  detriment  to 
the  church  than  I  could  wish,  how  pernicious  a  pest  he  has 
been."*  He  attributed  that  nobleman's  affection  for  Bolsec 
to  a  sort  of  fascination,  arising  from  a  cure  which  Bolsec  had 

1  They  were  published  at  Amsterdam  in  a  separate  volume,  1774. 

2  Letter  xlv.  3  Vol.  iii.,  p.  65. 
*  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  67,  note.  ^  Ep.  134. 


M.  DE  FALLAIS  PATRONIZES  BOLSEC.  237 

performed  on  one  of  his  maid  servants,  for  a  cancer.'  Tur- 
retin,  too,  affirms  that  the  interest  which  M.  de  fjiHais  took 
in  the  matter  arose  from  his  fear  of  losing  Bolsec's  services ; 
and  mentions  that  he  had  vv^ritten  to  the  Swiss  churches  in 
his  favor,  with  the  view  of  influencing  their  verdict.^  But 
these  are  partial  testimonies,  and  it  is  quite  as  likely  that  M. 
de  Fallais  was  incited  by  a  dislike  of  Calvin's  doctrine,  to 
which  his  residence  at  Basle  would  naturally  have  contributed. 

It  is  singular,  however,  that  Bolseo  himself,  in  the  "  Life 
of  Calvin"  which  he  afterward  published,  does  not  mention 
that  his  patron's  quarrel  with  that  Reformer  arose  upon  any 
point  of  doctrine,  nor  from  any  regard  that  he  felt  for  him- 
self, or  value  for  his  services  as  a  physician  ;  but  makes  it  the. 
occasion  of  bringing  a  charge  of  a  flagrant  nature  against 
Calvin.  He  affirms  that  the  real  cause  of  M.  de  Fallais' 
leaving  Geneva  was,  that  Calvjn  had  solicited  the  chastity  of 
his  wife,  who  thereupon  requested  her  husband  to  remove  to 
Berne  ;  and  he  asserts  that  he  had  frequently  heard  Madame 
de  Brederode  state  this  in  the  presence  of  her  husband.^  But 
this  charge  does  not  rest  on  any  other  authority  than  Bolsec's, 
which  must  not  be  lightly  taken  ;  for  it  is  certain  that  one  of 
a  still  more  infamous  nature  which  he  brings  against  Calvin 
is  a  gratuitous  calumny.  Nevertheless,  it  seems  at  least  prob- 
able that  such  a  report  was  in  circulation  at  that  time ;  since, 
from  an  entry  in  the  diary  of  Haller,  one  of  the  Bernese  min- 
isters, we  learn  that  Calvin  appeared  before  the  council  of 
that  city  on  the  17th  of  February,  1552,  for  the  purpose  of 
clearing  himself  from  certain  calumnies.  * 

No  provocation  can  excuse  Bolsec  for  bringing  these  in- 
famous charges  ;  yet  he  was  probably  incited  by  Beza's  "Life 
of  Calvin"  to  insert  them  in  his  own  biography  of  Calvin.  In 
the  work  alluded  to,  Beza  charges  Bolsec,  after  he  had  re- 
turned to  the  Roman  Catholic  communion,  with  prostituting 
his  wife  to  the  canons  of  Autun ;  an  imputation,  the  truth  of 
which  is  liable  to  considerable  suspicion,  from  the  virulence 
displayed  by  Beza  in  persecuting  Bolsec,  and  from  the  fact 
that  that  writer,  and  even  Calvin  himself,  were  not  always 
very  scrupulous  in  ascertaining  the  truth  of  what  they  alleged 
against  their  adversaries.     It  is  certain  that  Beza's  "  Life  of 

*  Letter  to  Bullinger,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  67,  note. 

2  See  Bibl.  Germ.,  t.  xiii. 

3  Vie  de  Calvhi,  p.  24,  Paris,  1557. 

*  "  Calvin  came  Iiither,  and  purged  himself  before  our  council  from  the 
calumnies  of  certain  individuals." — Ephim.,  17  Fevrier,  1552  [Mus.  Helv., 
ii.,  99). 


238  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Calvin"  appeared  before  Bolsec's,  which  was  not  published 
till  many,years  after  Calvin's  death. 

The  breach  between  Calvin  and  M.  de  Fallals  was  never 
healed ;  though  the  latter  did  not,  as  Bayle  affirms  (art.  Phi- 
lippe de  Bourgog7ie)t  abandon  the  Protestant  communion. 
Calvin  had  not  only  written  for  him  an  "Apology"  to  be  laid 
before  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  in  which  De  Fallals  assigns 
the  motives  of  his  conversion  to  Protestantism,  but  had  also 
dedicated  to  him  his  "  Commentary  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians."  In  the  second  edition  of  this  work,  how- 
ever, Calvin  canceled  this  dedication,  and  substituted  one  to 
Carraccioli,  Marquis  of  Vico. 

In  consequence  of  this  dispute  with  Bolsec,  Calvin  drew  up 
his  tract  "  On  the  Eternal  Predestination  of  God ;"  which, 
under  the  name  of  a  Consensus  or  Agreement  of  the  Genevese 
Pastors,  he  dedicated  to  the  syndics  and  council  of  Geneva, 
on  the  1st  of  January,  1552.  The  name  of  Bolsec,  however 
— whom  Calvin  parallels  with  the  burner  of  Diana's  temple 
at  Ephesus — is  passed  over  in  silence  ;  and  he  is  designated 
as  "  too  insipid  an  animal"  to  be  the  subject  of  a  regular 
treatise.  Instead  of  him  Calvin  adopts  "  the  dead  dog"  Pighi- 
us  as  his  opponent ;  and  seizes  the  opportunity  to  complete 
the  work  which  he  had  formerly  begun  against  him.  It  is 
also  made  the  vehicle  for  an  answer  to  a  certain  Georgius 
Siculus,  a  Benedictine ;  an  enthusiast  who  pretended  that 
Christ  had  appeared  to  him,  and  appointed  him  an  interpreter 
of  Scripture.^ 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1552  Calvin  was  in  correspond- 
ence with  Cranmer.  His  interference  in  English  affairs  began 
a  little  earlier,  and  it  was  soon  after  the  death  of  Henry  VIII. 
that  he  first  manifested  any  direct  interest  in  the  spiritual 
affairs  of  England,  by  addressing  a  long  letter  to  the  Protector 
Somerset,  dated  on  the  22d  of  October,  1548.'^  In  this  Cal- 
vin confines  himself  to  points  of  discipline  and  church  govern- 
ment. He  adverts  to  two  factions  by  which  the  church  of 
England  was  distracted ;  the  Papists,  and  the  fantastic  Gos- 
pelers,  or  Anabaptists.  He  particularly  calls  the  attention  of 
the  Protector  to  three  points  :  first,  the  method  of  instructing 
the  people  ;  second,  the  extirpation  of  old  abuses  ;  and  third, 
the  repression  and  punishment  of  vice.  With  regard  to  the 
first,  he  particularly  insists  on  the  necessity  of  lively  preach- 

1  Calvin,  Opera,  viii.,  594,  B. 

2  It  will  be  found  in  the  original  French  in  P.  Henry,  Bail.  4.     It  forms 
Ep.  87  of  Calvin's  Latin  correspondence. 


CALVLN  AND  THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH.  239 

ing.  "I  say  this,  sire,"  he  observes,  "  because  it  seems  to  me 
that  there  is  little  of  such  preaching  in  the  kingdom,  but  that 
sermons  are  for  the  most  part  only  read."  He  admits,  how- 
ever, that  this  was  a  necessity  arising  from  the  scarcity  of  fit 
and  proper  ministers ;  a  want,  as  our  ecclesiastical  annals 
show,  felt  for  many  years  after  this  period,  owing  to  the  great 
majority  of  men  bred  at  the  universities  being  inclined  to  the 
old  reHgion.  Calvin's  hint  seems  not  to  have  been  wholly 
flung  away.  In  the  following  year  Knox  was  appointed  by 
the  council  to  preach  at  Berwick ;  ^  and  afterward  we  find 
him  one  of  King  Edward's  six  itinerant  chaplains,  who  were 
employed  to  propagate  reformed  tenets  through  the  country 
by  preaching.  Under  this  head  of  instruction  Calvin  also 
recommends,  as  a  means  to  repress  Anabaptists  and  other 
visionaries,  that  some  code  of  doctrine  should  be  drawn  up,  to 
be  sworn  to  by  the  clergy,  and  that  a  catechism  for  children 
should  be  prepared.  Both  these  suggestions  were  afterward 
adopted,  though  it  is  probable  they  would  have  occurred  to 
Cranmer  without  any  hint  from  Geneva. 

With  regard  to  the  second  head,  namely,  the  extirpation  of 
old  abuses,  Calvin  acknowledges  the  importance  of  proceeding 
with  moderation,  but  maintains  that  this  should  not  be  car- 
ried to  such  a  length  as  to  operate  to  the  prejudice  of  religion. 
The  retained  abuses  which  he  objected  to  were  prayers  for 
the  dead,  anointing  {creme),  and  extreme  unction. 

Under  the  third  head,  the  repression  and  punishment  ol" 
vice,  he  advises  ecclesiastical  penalties  against  adultery,  drunk- 
enness, blasphemy,  and  other  vices  which  do  not  fall  so  imme- 
diately under  the  cognizance  of  civil  laws.  He  would  have 
introduced  the  same  discipline  which  he  had  established  at 
Geneva,  and  have  maintained  it  by  the  same  means,  namely, 
excommunication,  or  exclusion  from  the  communion.  He  does 
not,  however,  drop  a  hint  respecting  the  establishment  of  a 
consistory,  but  seems  to  recognize  the  episcopal  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  the  power  of  the  Protector,  as  head  of  the  Church, 
by  virtue  of  his  representing  the  king  ;  though  he  had  object- 
ed to  that  function  in  the  person  of  Henry  YIII.^ 

^  Strype,  Memorials,  iii. 

2  "  Car  corame  la  doctrine  est  I'dme  de  I'Eglise  pour  la  vivifier,  ainsi  la 
discipline  et  correction  des  vices  sont  comme  les  nerfs  pour  maintenir  le 
corps  en  son  etat  et  vigueur.  L'office  des  Eveques  et  cures  est  de  veiller 
sur  cela,  afin  que  la  c^ne  de  nostre  Seigneur  ne  soit  point  poUuee  par  gens 
de  vie  scandaleuse  ;  mais  en  I'authorite  ou  Dieu  vous  a  mis  la  principale 
charge  revient  sur  vous,  voyre  de  mettre  les  aultres  en  train,  afin  que  cha- 
con  s'acquitte  de  son  debvoir,  et  faire  que  I'ordre  qui  aura  este  estably  soit 
deuement  observe." 


240  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

This  letter  contains  a  remarkable  passage  in  which  Calvin 
recommends  the  Protector  to  repress  the  mutinous  Papists 
and  Anabaptists  by  the  sword.  It  will  be  recollected  that  in 
the  following  year  a  commission  issued  for  trying  Anabap- 
tists, under  which  Joan  Bocher,  or  Joan  of  Kent,  was  burned. 
Can  it  be  that  the  mind  of  the  English  primate  was  fortified 
in  this  course  by  the  advice  and  opinion  of  so  great  a  theolo- 
gian as  Calvin,  even  so  as  to  resist  the  tears  and  supplications 
of  the  young  king,  and  to  light  up  the  first  fire  of  persecution 
in  a  Reformed  community  ?  ^ 

After  this  Calvin's  intercourse  with  England  seems  to  have 
been  intermitted  for  a  year  or  two.  From  a  letter  of  his  to 
Farel,  dated  on  the  15th  of  June,  1551,  it  appears  that  his 
communications  were  renewed  with  the  English  court  in  that 
year,  and  that  Cranmer  had  assured  him  he  could  not  be  more 
usefully  employed  than  in  writing  frequently  to  the  young 
king.^  The  renewal  of  the  correspondence  at  this  period  was 
occasioned  by  Calvin's  having  dedicated  to  Edward  VI.  his 
"  Commentary  on  Isaiah  and  the  Canonical  Epistles,"  as  he 
mentions  in  a  letter  to  BuUinger  in  the  month  of  March  in 
that  year  f  adding  that  he  had  accompanied  the  books  with 
some  private  letters  of  exhortation.  It  appears  from  the  let- 
ter to  Farel,  before  referred  to,  that  Calvin  had  sent  one 
Nicholas,  probably  Nicholas  de  la  Fontaine,  into  England 
with  these  books  and  letters,  who  had  nearly  suffered  ship- 
wreck on  his  passage  homeward.  On  Calvin's  messenger 
delivering  his  letters  to  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  and  mention- 
ing that  he  had  others  for  the  king,  the  Protector  himself 
undertook  to  introduce  him  to  Edward,  who,  as  well  as  his 
council,  showed  much  joy  on  receiving  them.  At  this  time 
the  affair  of  Dr.  Hooper,  who  had  been  appointed  to  the  see 
of  Gloucester  in  1550,  was  occupying  the  attentioii  of  the 
English  church.  Hooper  had  left  England  towardlthe  end 
of  Henry's  reign,  and  at  the  time  of  the  promulgation  of  the 
Interim  was  residing  at  Zurich,  where  he  seems  to  nave  im- 
bibed his  aversion  to  the  surplice,  and  other  canonical  habits. 
In  the  reforms  introduced  by  Cranmer  in  1548,  the  subject 
of  the  priestly  garments  was  long  under  discussion.     Some 

1  The  passage  runs  as  follows  :  "  Tous  ensemble  meritent  bien  d'estre 
reprimes  par  le  glayve  qui  voas  est  commis,  veu  qu'ils  s'attachment  non 
seulement  au  Roi,  raais  a  Dieu  qui  I'a  assie  au  siege  royal,  et  vous  a  com- 
mis la  protection  tant  de  sa  personne  comme  de  sa  majeste." — See  P.  Henry, 
ii.,  Beil.30.  2  gee  Ep.  123. 

3  Ep.  120.  Calvin's  letter  to  the  king,  accompanying  the  Commentaries, 
is  printed  by  the  Parker  Society  (OriginoJ  Letter-'^,  P.  ii.,  p.  707). 


AFFAIR  OF  DR.  HOOPER.  24J 

objected  to  them  as  remnants  of  superstition ;  but  on  the 
other  hand  it  was  contended  that  the  priests,  under  the 
Mosaic  dispensation,  wore  white  garments ;  that  they  were 
used  in  the  African  churches  during  the  fourth  century ;  that 
they  seemed  a  natural  emblem  of  the  purity  which  became 
the  priestly  office  ;  and  that  many  of  the  English  clergy  were 
so  poor  that  they  were  unable  to  provide  themselves  with 
decent  clothing,  and  would  thus  become  objects  of  contempt 
and  ridicule  to  the  people  if  they  officiated  in  the  pulpit 
without  the  surplice.^  These  arguments  had  prevailed  ;  but 
Hooper,  on  his  appointment,  refused  to  be  consecrated,  ob- 
jecting to  the  oath,  which  contained  the  words  "  by  God,  by 
Saints,  and  by  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  to  what  he  called  the 
Aaronical  habits.^  The  first  of  these  objections  was  got  over 
by  the  young  king  striking  out  the  objectionable  words  with 
his  own  hand.  About  the  habits  there  was  more  difficulty. 
The  king  and  council  seemed  inclined  to  abolish  them  ;  but 
Ridley  and  the  other  bishops  were  for  retaining  them,  hold- 
ing them  to  be  things  indifferent,  which  ought  to  be  com- 
phed  with.  In  a  subsequent  discussion  Cranmer  showed  a 
disposition  to  yield ;  but  Ridley  and  Goodrick  stood  out. 
The  primate,  distrusting  his  own  judgment,  wrote  to  Bucer 
for  his  opinion,  who  was  then  professor  of  divinity  at  Cam- 
bridge.^ Bucer  answered  that  the  habits  might  be  used 
without  offense  to  God,  and  that  those  who  opposed  and  re- 
jected them  on  the  ground  of  their  unlawfulness  were  at  least 
in  error :  but  he  at  the  same  time  expressed  a  wish  that  they 
should  be  abolished,  as  affording  to  some  an  occasion  of 
superstition,  and  to  others  of  bickering  and  contention.  He 
also  wrote  to  Hooper  himself  to  the  like  effect.  Peter  Martyr 
wrote  to  Bucer  to  express  his  concurrence  in  his  view  of  the 
question,  and  his  dissatisfaction  at  Hooper's  scruples  ;  which 
he  thought  were  calculated  to  create  disturbance^  and  injure 
the  cause  of  the  Reformation.'*  But  however  obstinate  and 
unreasonable  was  Hooper's  conduct  that  of  the  council  was 
hardly  less  so.  They  would  not  permit  him  to  decline  the 
bishopric,  a  step  which  would  at  once  have  put  an  end  to  the 
matter  ;  but  during  the  controversy  confined  him  to  his  house. 
The  affair  was  at  length  compromised,  and  Hooper  was  con- 
secrated in  March,  1551,  on  the  following  conditions  :  that  he 
should  consent  to  wear  the  robes   at  his  consecration,  and 

»  Burnet,  Reformation,  ii.,  15.5.  =  Ibid.,  iii.,  389. 

3  Cranmer's  letter  is  dated  December  2d,  1550.     See  Cranmer's  Re- 
mains, I,  341,  and  note.  *  Burnet,  ii.,  317. 

I. 


242  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

when  he  preached  before  the  king  or  in  his  cathedral ;  but 
that  at  other  times  he  should  be  at  liberty  to  dispense  with 
them.  This  was  the  first  appearance  in  England  of  those 
unhappy  difierences  which  afterward  prevailed  between  the 
Church  and  thq  Puritanical  party. 

Calvin  himself  thought  that  Hooper  carried  his  scruples 
too  far.  In  his  letter  to  BuUinger  he  says :  "  I  have  received 
the  sad  news  that  Hooper  has  been  imprisoned ;  an  event  of 
which  I  had  some  apprehensions  previously.  I  fear  that  the 
bishops  will  grow  rampant  on  this  victory,  and  therefore, 
though  I  approve  of  his  constancy  in  refusing  to  be  anointed, 
yet  I  should  have  preferred  that  he  had  not  contended  so  per- 
tinaciously respecting  the  cap  and  surplice,  (although  I  do 
not  approve  of  them),  and  so  I  lately  endeavored  to  persuade 
him."^  Calvin,  in  his  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  had 
recommended  Hooper  to  his  protection.^  This  recommenda- 
tion seems  not  to  have  been  neglected.  In  the  following 
October,  Hooper,  on  the  deprivation  of  Heath,  was  appointed 
to  the  see  of  Worcester,  which  he  held  in  commendam  ;  and 
in  the  following  spring,  during  the  meeting  of  the  Parliament, 
we  find  him  residing  in  the  primate's  palace,  on  a  footing  of 
the  greatest  friendship.^ 

In  the  letter  to  Farel  before  referred  to,*  Calvin  adverts  to 
the  interception  of  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  by  the  nobility 
as  one  of  the  most  crying  evils  in  the  English  church,  but 
for  which  there  was  no  remedy  till  the  king  should  come  of 
age.  Meanwhile  they  hired  improper  persons  at  a  low  price 
to  discharge  the  office  of  the  ministers,  or  rather  to  fill  their 
places.  In  the  same  letter  he  alludes  to  the  death  of  Bucer, 
which  had  happened  a  little  previously.  This  he  considered 
a  great  loss  to  the  Church  in  general,  and  particularly  to  that 
of  England. 

When  the  death  of  Henry  had  left  Cranmer  some  liberty 
of  action,  one  of  the  designs  which  lay  nearest  his  heart  was 
the  uniting  of  all  the  Protestant  churches  into  one  common 
confession  of  faith. ^  Many  years  previously  a  union  had  in- 
deed been  attempted  with  the  Lutherans  ;  and  from  a  letter 
of  Melancthon's  to  Camerarius,  dated  on  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1534,  we  find  that  he  had  then  already  received  two 
invitations  to  come  to  England.^     But  during  the  reign  of 

1  Ep.  120  2  Ep.  121. 

3  See  Cranmer's  letter  to  Bullinger,  March  20tb,  1552  {Cranmcfs  Re 
mains,  i.,  345,  and  note).  *  Ep.  123. 

5  See  Strype,  Cranmer,  p.  407. 
s  See  Matthes,  Lehen  Melanctlwni<,  p.  151,  noteT 


ORANMER'S  PRINCIPLES.  243 

Henry  the  question  of  the  eucharist  would  have  prevented  any 
union  with  the  Swiss  churches,  and  indeed  with  the  Lutheran : 
for  that  monarch  appears  never  to  have  discarded  the  doctrine 
of  transubstantiation ;  and  in  his  negotiations  with  the  Ger- 
mans, he  gave  them  plainly  to  understand  that  he  expected 
they  should  submit  to  him,  and  not  he  to  them.^  The  opin- 
ions of  the  primate  on  that  question  it  is  not  easy  to  arrive  at. 
During  the  life  of  Henrj  he  seems  to  have  inclined  to  the 
popish  doctrine  ;  and  yetthere  are  circumstances  which  favor 
the  notion  of  his  having  been  aj^utheran.  The  "  Institution 
of  a  Christian  Man,"  published  in  1537,  in  the  drawing  up 
of  which  Cranmer  had  the  principal  hand,  is  altogether  Ro- 
man Catholic,  except  on  points  relating  to  the  power  of  the 
see  of  Rome.  In  the  same  year  we  find  him  writing  to  Vadi- 
anus,  or  Wat,  a  minister  of  St.  Gal,  in  Switzerland,  to  ex- 
press his  disapprobation  of  a  book  which  Wat  had  written 
against  transubstantiation.^  In  a  letter,  however,  w^hich  he 
addressed  to  Cromwell  in  1538,  we  find  the  following  pas- 
sage :  "As  concerning  Adam  Damplip  of  Calice,  he  utterly 
denieth  that  ever  he  taught  or  said  that  the  very  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  was  not  presently  in  the  sacrament  of  the 
altar,  and  confesseth  the  same  to  be  there  really  ;  but  he  saith 
that  the  controversy  between  him  and  the  prior  was  by  cause 
he  confuted  the  opinion  of  the  transubstantiation,  and  therein 
I  think  he  taught  but  the  truth."  ^  Now,  at  this  time,  if  he 
maintained  the  local  presence,  yet  denied  transubstantiation, 
he  must  have  been  a  Lutheran.  In  the  formulary,  entitled 
"  A  Necessary  Doctrine  and  Erudition  for  any  Christian  Man," 
published  in  1543,  it  is  hard  to  say  whether  the  Lutheran  or 
Roman  Catholic  doctrine  be  maintained.  The  exact  date  of 
Cranmer's  conversion  to  the  tenets  held  by  the  Swiss  churches 
on  this  subject  can  not  be  ascertained.  Mr.  Le  Bas  places  it 
about  the  year  1547  ;*  but  if  that  was  so,  Cranmer,  at  all 
events,  kept  it  secret  till  the  end  of  1548.  On  the  31st  of 
December  of  that  year,  we  find  Bartholomew  Traheron  writ- 
ing to  Bullinger  as  follows  :  "  On  the  14th  of  December,  if 
I  mistake  not,  a  disputation  was  held  at  London  concerning 
the  eucharist,  in  the  presence  of  almost  all  the  nobility  of  En- 
gland.    The  argument  was  sharply  contested  by  the  bishops. 

1  See  Cromwell's  letter  to  the  divines  of  Wittenberg,  and  the  king's 
answer  to  the  Duke  of  Saxony  and  Landgrave  of  Hesse.  Burnet,  iii.,  214. 
and  RecJ,  No.  45. 

2  Cranmer  s  Remains,  i.,  195  ^  Ibid.,  i.,  257 
*  Life  of  Ci-anyner,  i.,  315. 


244  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  contrary  to  general  expecta- 
timi,  most  openly,  firmly,  and  learnedly,  maintained  your 
opinion  upon  this  subject."  And  a  little  further  on  he  adds  : 
*'- 1  perceive  that  it  is  all  over  with  Lutheranisra,  now  that 
those  who  were  considered  its  principal,  and  almost  only  sup- 
porters, have  altogether  come  over  to  our  side."  ^ 

After  his  conversion  on  this  point,  Cranmer,  who  had  hith- 
erto contemplated  a  union  only  wij^h  the  Lutheran  church, 
naturally  began  to  turn  his  attention  to  those  of  Switzerland. 
We  find  him,  indeed,  addressing  a  letter  of  invitation  to  Me- 
lancthon,  on  the  10th  of  February,  1549  ;  but  that  Reformer 
very  nearly  coincided  with  the  Swiss  respecting  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  nor  did  Cranmer  wish  to  exclude  the 
Lutherans  from  a  union  intended  to  be  general.  It  was  early 
in  the  year  1552,  and  consequently  after  Calvin's  dispute  with 
Bolsec,  and  the  publication  of  his  book  on  predestination,  that 
we  first  find  Cranmer  including  the  church  of  Geneva  in  his 
project.  It  may  be  that  before  that  period  Calvin  was  not 
sufficiently  known  in  England  ;  and  yet  the  dedication  of  his 
"  Commentaries"  to  Edward,  and  the  wish  expressed  by 
Cranmer  on  that  occasion,  would  seem  to  show  the  contrary. 
However  that  may  be,  on  the  20th  of  March,  1552,  Cranmer 
addressed  him  a  letter  on  the  subject  of  his  favorite  scheme 
for  a  meeting  of  the  heads  of  the  Reformed  churches,  in  order 
to  draw  up  a  common  confession  of  faith,  and  especially  on 
the  subject  of  the  eucharist.^  About  the  same  time  Cranmer 
also  appears  to  have  addressed  Melancthon  and  Bui  linger  to 
the  same  efiect. 

These  efibrts  of  the  English  primate  to  effect  a  union  of  all 
the  Protestant  churches  are  most  praiseworthy.  There  has 
been  already  occasion  to  remark  that  Calvin  was  never  very 
sanguine  about  such  projects,  nor  showed  much  alacrity  to 
enter  into  them,  except  when  there  was  a  prospect  of  implicit 
submission  to  his  own  notions.  His  answer  to  Cranmer  in  the 
present  instance  can  be  regarded  as  nothing  more  than  a  civil 
excuse ;  though  it  may  be  that  his  views  of  the  implacable 
hostility  prevailing  among  the  different  churches,  and  the  con- 
sequent impracticability  of  a  union,  were  more  clear-sighted 
and  correct  than  those  of  the  archbishop,  owing  to  his  superior 

^  Parker  Society's  Original  Letters,  i.,  322. 

^  This  letter  will  be  found  in  the  original  Latin  in  Cranmer' s  Remains, 
i.,  34G;  and  there  is  a  translation  in  the  Parker  Society's  Original  Letters, 
i.,  24.  It  sufficiently  refutes  the  story  of  the  animosity  alleged  to  have  ex- 
isted at  this  period  between  Calvui  and  the  English  church.  On  this  sub- 
ject, see  Cranmer's  Remains,  Preface,  p.  civ.,  note. 


CRANxMER'S  PROJECTS  OF  UiNION.  245 

opportunities  for  closer  observation  and  more  practical  knowl- 
edge. After  some  compliments  to  the  latter,  on  his  zeal  for 
the  welfare  of  the  Universal  Church,  Calvin  proceeds  to  ob- 
serve :  "I  wish,  indeed,  it  could  be  brought  about  that  men 
of  learning  and  authority  from  the  different  churches  should 
meet  somewhere,  and  after  thoroughly  discussing  the  different 
heads  of  faith,  should,  by  a  unanimous  decision,  deliver  down 
to  posterity  some  certain  rule  of  doctrine.  But  among  the 
chief  evils  of  the  age  must  be  reckoned  the  marked  division 
between  the  different  churches,  insomuch  that  human  society 
can  hardly  be  said  to  be  established  among  us,  much  less  a 
holy  communion  of  the  members  of  Christ ;  which,  though  all 
profess  it,  few  indeed  really  observe  with  sincerity.  But  if  the 
clergy  are  more  lukewarm  than  they  should  be,  the  fault  lies 
chiefly  with  their  sovereigns ;  who  are  either  so  involved  in 
their  secular  affairs,  as  to  neglect  the  welfare  of  the  Church, 
and  indeed  religion  itself,  altogether  ;  or  so  well  content  to  see 
their  own  countries  at  peace,  as  to  care  little  about  others ; 
and  thus  the  members  being  divided,  the  body  of  the  Church 
lies  lacerated.  As  to  myself.  If  I  should  be  thought  of  any 
use,  I  would  not,  if  need  were,  object  to  cross  ten  seas  for  such 
a  purpose.  If  the  assisting  of  England  were  alone  concerned, 
that  would  be  motive  enough  with  me  ;  much  more,  therefore, 
am  I  of  opinion,  that  I  ought  to  grudge  no  labor  or  trouble, 
seeing  that  the  object  in  view  is  an  agreement  among  the 
learned,  to  be  drawn  up  by  the  weight  of  their  authority  ac- 
cording to  Scripture,  in  order  to  unite  churches  seated  far 
apart.  But  my  insignificance  makes  me  hope  that  I  may  be 
spared.  I  shall  have  discharged  my  part  by  offering  up  my 
prayers  for  what  may  have  been  done  by  others.  Melancthon 
is  so  far  off  that  it  takes  some  time  to  exchange  letters  : 
Bullinger  has,  perhaps,  already  answered  you.  I  only  wish 
that  I  had  the  power,  as  I  have  the  inclination,  to  serve  the 
cause,"  &c.^ 

A  little  while  afterward  Cranmer  seems  to  have  written 
another  letter  to  Calvin,  which  does  not  appear  to  be  extant ; 
but,  from  the  latter's  reply,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  English 
primate,  finding  all  his  efforts  for  a  union  of  the  Protestant 
churches  unavailing,  had  communicated  in  it  his  determination 
to  prepare  a  separate  formulary  for  the  church  of  England. 
As  Calvin's  answer  sets  forth  at  length  his  view  of  the  state 
of  our  church  at  this  period,  we  shall  here  insert  it  entire. 

"  Since  at  the  present  juncture  a  meeting  of  the  principal 

I  Ep.  126. 


U6  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ministers  of  the  Ileformed  churches,  for  the  purpose  of  promul- 
gating, for  the  use  of  posterity,  a  stable  and  perspicuous  con- 
fession respecting  the  different  controverted  points  of  doctrine, 
though  much  to  be  wished,  can  not  be  expected,  I  much  ap- 
prove, reverend  lord,  the  determination  you  have  come  to,  that 
the  English  shall  at  length  maturely  fix  their  form  of  religion : 
lest  the  minds  of  the  people  should  be  kept  still  longer  in  sus- 
pense by  matters  being  left  in  uncertainty,  or,  at  least,  in  a 
less  orderly  state  than  what  is  proper.  To  this  end  all  that 
hold  power  in  your  country  should  contribute,  but  so  as  to 
leave  you  the  principal  share.  You  see  what  such  an  office 
demands  of  you,  or  rather  what  God  may  justly  look  for  at 
your  hands,  in  proportion  to  the  functions  with  which  He  has 
intrusted  you.  In  you  is  vested  the  chief  authority,  which 
falls  to  you  not  only  from  your  high  station,  but  from  the  opin- 
ion which  hath  long  been  conceived  of  your  prudence  and  in- 
tegrity. The  eyes  of  many  are  upon  you,  either  to  follow 
where  you  lead,  or  to  remain  motionless  under  the  pretext  of 
your  remissness.  And  I  wish  that  under  your  auspices  more 
progress  had  been  made  three  years  ago,  and  that  so  much  had 
not  remained  to  be  done  and  struggled  for  now,  in  order  to 
remove  gross  superstitions.  I  admit,  indeed,  that  the  gospel 
hath  made  considerable  progress  in  a  short  time  since  it  really 
began  to  re  flourish  in  England.  Nevertheless,  if  you  consider 
what  is  still  wanting,  and  that  too  much  remissness  hath  been 
shown  in  many  things,  you  should  not  relax  your  efforts  to 
reach  the  goal,  as  if  a  great  part  of  the  course  had  been  al- 
ready accomplished  :  for,  to  speak  freely,  the  fear  continually 
recurs  lest  so  many  autumns  be  spent  in  delay,  that  the  cold 
of  a  perpetual  winter  may  succeed.  Your  increasing  age 
should  stimulate  you  the  more  ;  lest  if  you  should  have  to  de- 
part hence,  leaving  all  things  in  disorder,  the  consciousness  of 
your  remissness  should  oppress  you  with  anxiety  in  your  last 
moments.  I  say  disorder  ;  because  though  outward  super- 
stitions have  been  corrected,  still  numerous  shoots  have  been 
left  behind,  which  may  be  constantly  springing  up.  Nay,  I 
am  told  that  such  a  mass  of  popish  corruption  hath  been  left, 
as  not  only  to  obscure,  but  almost  to  overwhelm,  the  pure  and 
genuine  worship  of  God.  Meanwhile,  that  which  is  the  soul 
of  all  ecclesiastical  order,  I  mean  preaching,  lives  not,  or  at 
least  is  not  so  vigorous  as  it  ought  to  be.  You  may  be  sure 
that  true  religion  will  never  flourish  till  the  churches  are  bet- 
ter provided  with  fit  pastors,  who  can  really  undertake  the 
office  of  teaching.     Satan  opposes  this  in  artful  and  secret 


CALVIN'S  LETTKR  TO  CRANMER.  9A7 

ways ;  but  I  understand  that  one  manifest  impediment  is  the 
spoHation  of  the  ecclesiastical  revenues.  This  is  truly  an  in- 
tolerable evil ;  but  besides  this  dissipation,  which  is  but  too 
gross,  there  seems  to  be  another  fault  as  great — the  appropri- 
ating of  the  public  revenues  of  the  Church  to  the  feeding  of 
idle  stomachs,  who  troll  their  vespers  in  an  unknown  tongue. 
I  say  no  more,  except  that  it  is  something  too  absurd  that  you 
should  approve  of  this  mockery,  which  is  openly  at  variance 
with  the  legitimate  ordering  of  the  Church.  But  these 
things,  I  doubt  not,  will  occur  to  yourself,  and  will  also  be 
suggested  to  you  by  that  excellent  and  most  worthy  man, 
Peter  Martyr,  whose  counsel  I  am  very  glad  that  you  use. 
Nevertheless,  the  many  and  arduous  difficulties  with  which 
you  are  struggling,  seem  to  me  such  as  not  to  render  my  ex- 
hortations superfluous.  Farewell,  most  excellent  and  rever- 
end primate.  May  God  long  preserve  you,  enrich  you  still 
more  with  the  spirit  of  prudence  and  fortitude,  and  give  a 
blessing  to  all  your  labors.     Amen."^ 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  letter,  Calvin  is  a  little  too  hard 
upon  Cranmer,  probably  from  not  sufficiently  understanding 
the  exact  state  of  affairs  at  that  time  in  England.  The  cause 
which  occasioned  the  want  of  fit  and  proper  preachers  has 
been  already  pointed  out.  It  was  not  attributable  to  the  neg- 
lect of  Cranmer,  nor  even,  perhaps,  as  Calvin  suggests,  to  the 
artifices  of  Satan  ;  but  was  a  very  natural  result  of  the  sudden 
and  somewhat  violent  change  in  the  religion  of  the  nation. 
In  a  small  city  like  Geneva,  it  might  be  easy  to  supply  the 
pulpits  with  efficient  ministers,  though  even  there,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Heformation,  the  want  of  them  was  much  felt. 
At  a  later  period,  the  demand  was  supplied  by  the  great  influx 
of  French  and  other  refugees,  which  offered  Calvin  materials 
ready  to  his  hand ;  and  thus  we  find  that  during  his  time 
most  of  the  Genevese  clergy  were  Frenchmen.  In  England 
the  universities  were  still  filled  with  Papists,  as  Calvin  might 
have  learned  from  Bucer.  No  one  could  lament  more  than 
Cranmer  himself  the  deficiency  of  competent  preachers  ;  and 
to  remedy  the  inconvenience,  he  had,  immediately  after  the 
death  of  Henry,  caused  twelve  homilies  to  be  drawn  up,  to  be 
read  from  the  pulpits.^  Under  the  circumstances,  this  was 
surely  a  better  way  of  providing  for  the  instruction  of  the  peo- 
ple than  by  leaving  it  to  the  extempore  effusions  of  ignorant 

1  Ep.  127. 

'^  Three  of  these,  namely  those  on  Salvation,  Faith,  and  Works,  are  said 
to  have  been  drawn  up  by  himself.     Cranmer' s  Remains,  Preface,  p.  xlvi. 


248  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

and  fanatical  enthusiasts ;  a  method,  however,  which  Calvin 
himself  adopted,  to  fill  the  pulpits  of  France,  as  there  will  be 
occasion  to  relate  further  on.  The  spoliation  of  the  Church 
hy  the  nobility  and  courtiers  in  Edward's  reign,  Cranmer  did 
all  he  could  to  prevent ;  but  his  power  and  authority  were  not 
sufficient  for  that  purpose.  With  regard  to  chantries,  in 
which  "vespers  were  trolled  in  an  unknown  tongue,"  an  act 
being  introduced  into  parliament  for  giving  them  to  the  king, 
Cranmer  divided  with  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops  against 
the  measure  ;  his  object  being  to  preserve  them  intact  till  the 
king  came  of  age,  in  order  that  their  revenues  might  be  ap- 
propriated to  the  Church,. instead  of  being  diverted  to  secular 
uses.^  It  is  to  this  step  that  Calvin  seems  to  allude  in  his 
letter. 

1  Burnet,  Reformation,  ii.,  448. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Account  of  Servetus — His  Book  against  the  Trinity — His  Medical  Studies 
— Settles  at  Vienne — His  Correspondence  with  Calvin — Broken  off  by 
the  latter — Publishes  his  "Restoration  of  Christianity" — Is  denounced 
by  Trie,  and  apprehended  at  Vienne — Calvin  farnisKes  Evidence  against 
him — Further  Proceedings — Examination  at  Vienne — Escapes  from 
Prison,  and  is  burned  in  Effigy. 

The  year  1553  was  rendered  the  most  memorable  in  Cal- 
vin's life  by  the  burning  of  Servetus.  This  act,  which  has 
furnished  his  enemies  with  their  favorite,  and  perhaps  their 
justest  topic  of  reproach,  and  which  his  friends  would  be  will- 
ing, were  it  possible,  to  bury  in  eternal  obhvion,  I  shall  en- 
deavor to  relate  with  the  strictest  impartiality :  no  facts  shall 
be  adduced  but  what  are  supported  by  evidence,  but,  at  the 
same  time,  none  shall  be  suppressed.  The  lessons  of  history 
lose  all  their  value  when  delivered  in  a  mutilated  form ;  nor 
can  any  reasonable  and  candid  admirer  of  Calvin's  character 
wish  to  see  it  protected  by  suppression  and  concealment.  The 
abstract  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  doctrines  which  he  promul- 
gated, is  not  affected  by  his  personal  conduct ;  and  even  if  it 
were,  that  would  only  be  an  additional  reason  why  his  acts 
should  be  shown  in  their  true  light.  But  before  relating  his 
proceedings  on  this  occasion,  it  will  be  necessary  to  give  a  short 
account  of  the  unhappy  man  who  was  the  subject  of  them.^ 

Michael  Serveto,  or,  according  to  the  Latinized  form  of  his 
'name,  Servetus,  was  born  at  Villa-neuva,  in  Arragon,  in  the 
year  1509,  and  was,  consequently,  of  about  the  same  age  as 
Calvin.  His  father  was  a  notary,  and,  if  we  may  trust  the 
deposition  of  Servetus,  in  his  examination  at  Geneva,  his 
family  was  of  an  ancient,  and  even  noble  race.  We  have 
few  particulars  of  his  early  life.  Mosheim  supposes  that  he 
received  the  first  rudiments  of  his  education  in  a  Dominican 
convent — a  conjecture  founded  on  the  circumstance  that 
Quintana,  the  father  confessor  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V., 
and  himself  a  Dominican  monk,  had  a  slight  knowledge  of 
him.^     As  he  grew  toward  manhood,  his  father  sent  him  to 

1  See  Appendix,  No.  I. 

^  See  Cocnlaeus,  De  Actis  et  Scriptis  Lutheri,  quoted  by  Trechsel,  Antitr., 
i.,  63. 


250  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Toulouse  to  study  the  law,  where  he  seems  to  have  spent  two 
or  three  years.  Servetus  possessed,  from  the  cradle,  a  diseased 
and  sickly  body,  but  a  mind  both  inquisitive  and  acute,  though 
imbued  with  a  strong  tincture  of  fanaticism.  With  these 
dispositions,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  should  have  ardently 
addicted  himself  to  study,  nor  that  jurisprudence  should  have 
been  laid  aside  for  other  pursuits  more  congenial  to  such  a 
temper.  Even  the  philosophy  of  the  schools  had  no  charms 
for  a  mind  like  his.  Endowed  with  much  originality,  and  a 
still  larger  share  of  pride  and  self-will,  he  felt  disinclined  to 
recognize  the  established  supremacy  of  Aristotle,  and  to  sub- 
mit himself  to  a  discipline  whose  first  demand  is  an  implicit 
deference.  On  the  other  hand,  his  disposition  toward  mysti- 
cism led  him  to  indulge  in  the  reveries  of  judicial  astrology. 
But  what  proved  most  attractive  to  him  were  the  novel  opin- 
ions in  religion  promulgated  by  the  German  Reformers,  which 
were  then  beginning  to  make  a  great  sensation  throughout 
Europe.  In  conjunction  with  some  other  scholars  of  his  ac- 
quaintance, he  entered  eagerly  on  the  study  of  divinity ;  he 
began  to  read  the  Scriptures,  in  order  to  seek  the  truth  at  the 
fountain-head ;  he  perused  most  of  the  Fathers,  especially  those 
who  flourished  before  the  time  of  Arius,  and  felt  a  decided 
predilection  for  the  works  of  Tertullian  and  Irenseus.  He 
also  read  the  books  of  Luther  and  the  other  German  Reform- 
ers, who  seemed  to  him  not  to  carry  their  opinions  far  enough. 
Even  at  this  early  period,  Servetus  had  adopted  his  anti-trin- 
itarian  notions,  and  was  seized  with  the  desire  of  distinguish- 
ing himself  as  a  Reformer.  These,  however,  were  dispositions 
which  it  was  unsafe  to  manifest  at  Toulouse,  a  city  which  was 
considered  the  most  superstitious,  and  its  parliament  the  most 
sanguinary,  in  France.^  He  resolved,  therefore,  to  go  to  Basle," 
and  to  submit  his  views  to  CEcolampadius,  the  distinguished 
pastor  of  that  city.  He  arrived  at  Basle  in  1530,  having 
traveled  through  Lyons  and  Geneva.  Here  he  introduced 
himself  to  CEcolampadius  under  his  real  name,  and  a  corre- 
spondence ensued  between  them ;  in  the  course  of  which  that 
Reformer  expressed  the  greatest  dislike  of  the  new-fangled 
views  of  Servetus,  and  represented  to  him  that  he  could  not 
claim  to  be  called  a  Christian,  unless  he  admitted  the  Saviour 
to  be  not  only  the  Son  of  God,  but  the  eternal  Son  of  God, 
of  one  substance  with  the  Father.  He  felt  it  to  be  his  duty 
to  submit  to  his  brother  Reformers,  Zwingli,  Bucer,  and  Capito, 
whom  he  met  at  Strasburgh,  the  notions  entertained  on  this 

1  Hist,  den  Eglises  Ref.,  vol.  i.,  p  10. 


SERVETUS'S  BOOK  AGAINST  THE  TRINITY.  251 

subject  by  Servetus,  and  to  ask  their  advice  as  to  the  conduct 
which  he  should  adopt  toward  him,  and  especially  as  to  wheth- 
er he  should  denounce  him  to  the  authorities  of  Basle,  This 
latter  proceeding  appears  to  have  been  opposed  by  Zwingli, 
who  was  averse  to  all  compulsion  in  matters  of  conscience  ;^ 
though  he  recommended  CEcolampadius  to  prevent,  if  possible, 
the  publication  of  the  blasphemies  of  Servetus.^ 

From  his  intercourse  with  CEcolampadius,  Servetus  might 
have  learned  that  the  publication  of  his  opinions  respecting 
the  Trinity  would  be  quite  as  displeasing  to  the  Reformed  as 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church ;  but  his  vanity  and  obstinacy 
led  him  to  disregard  all  such  considerations.  His  book  on  the 
"Errors  of  the  Trinity"  {'' De  Trinitatis  Erroribus''),  the 
materials  for  which  had  probably  been  collected  at  Toulouse, 
was  now  ready  for  the  press,  and  he  had  only  to  seek  a  pub- 
lisher. He  found  one  in  Conrad  Rous,  a  bookseller  of  Hage- 
nau,  who  had  also  a  shop  at  Strasburgh.  The  book  was 
probably  printed  by  John  Secerius  ;  but  though  Servetus  did 
not  hesitate  to  put  his  real  name  on  the  title-page,  the  printer 
had  more  prudence  than  to  follow  his  example.  It  appeared 
in  1531,  when  its  author  had  not  completed  his  twenty-second 
year.'^ 

The  work  of  Servetus  must  at  least  be  regarded  as  original, 
for  all  the  anti-trinitarians  before  his  time  are  insignificant. 
He  refers  to  Scripture  as  the  only  source  of  all  religious 
knowledge,  but  holds  that  it  has  two  senses,  one  mystical,  the 
other  literal.  Christianity,  he  thinks,  had  been  prejudiced 
by  the  Aristotelian  philosophy,  and  by  neglecting  the  study 
of  Sebrew.  He  holds  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  was 
first  erected  when  the  Pope  became  the  sovereign  of  the 
Church,  and  thinks  that  Paul  of  Samosata  was  right  in  rep- 
resenting Christ  as  a  mere  man.  One  of  the  points  mainly 
insisted  on  is  the  impossibility  that  God  should  have  a  son 
co-eternal  with  himself  But  what  made  his  book  doubly 
offensive  was  the  light,  and  even  blasphemous  tone  in  which 
these  tenets  were  delivered  and  enforced.** 

'  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Servets,  p.  13.  a  p.  Henry,  iii.,  116, 

^  The  title  runs  :  "X>c  Trinitatis  Erroribus  Libri  Septem.  Per  Michaelem 
Servetum,  alias  Reves,  ab  Arragonid  Hispanum,  anno,  mdxxxi." — There  is 
an  analysis  of  its  contents  in  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Servets,  §  ix.,  et  seq. ; 
and  in  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  68-98. 

*  Thus,  for  example,  he  presses  the  last  point  by  questions  such  as  these  : 
"  Ubinara  uxorem  Deus  habuerit  1  an  utnimque  ipse  sexum  habeat  ?  ali- 
udne  gigni  quam  caro  et  sanguis  possit  ?"  &c. — Mosheim,  Geschichte  Ser- 
vets, Beil.  394.  He  called  the  Trinity,  a  Cerberus — the  three  persons  of  the 
Godhead,  deceptions  of  the  devil,  &c. 


252  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

The  book  was  received  with  equal  indignation  both   by 
Protestants  and  Papists.      Quintana   procured  an  imperial 
edict  for  its  suppression,      QEcolampadius   and  Zwingli  ex- 
pressed their  displeasure  at  it.     Bucer  at  Strasburgh,  where 
Servetus  was  residing,  denounced  him  from  the  pulpit  as 
worthy  to  have  his  entrails  torn  out.^     Indeed  such  was  the 
feeling  excited  against  him  in  that  town  that  it  was  no  longer 
safe  for  him  to  remain  there.     Accordingly  he  returned  to 
Basle,   and  ventured   again  to  visit   CEcolampadius  ;    who, 
however,  received  him  with  anger,  and  denounced  him  to  the 
council.     Upon  this  Servetus  wrote  him  a  letter  requesting 
to  be  allowed  to  send  off  his  books  to  Lyons  ;  beseeching  him 
to  spare  his  reputation  and  good  name  ;  and  deprecating  the 
putting  of  men  to  death  for  erroneous  interpretations  of  Scrip- 
ture.^    Naturally  gentle  and  tender-hearted,  CEcolampadius 
was  touched  by  this  appeal.     It  induced  him  to  give  a  mild 
report  of  the  book  to  the  council,  who  had  requested  his  opin- 
ion of  it.     Although  inclined  to  recommend  that  it  should  be 
altogether  suppressed,  he  nevertheless  suggested  the  alterna- 
tive that  it  might  be  read  by  those  whose  principles  were  in 
no  danger  of  being  hurt  by  it :  nay,  he  even  allowed  that  it 
contained  some  useful  things,  but  corrupted  and  rendered  dan- 
gerous by  what  was  mixed  up  with  them.     To  the  question 
of  the  council  as  to  how  the  author  should  be  treated  he 
would  make  no  reply,  but  requested  them  to  consult  other 
persons.^     The  termination  of  this  affair  is  involved  in  ob- 
scurity.     It  is  certain  that  Servetus  shortly  afterward  left 
Basle  ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  any  criminal  proceedings 
had  been  adopted  against  him.     The  answer  of  the  ministers 
of  Basle,  when  consulted  about  his  case  by  the  council  of 
Geneva  in  1553,  would  lead  us  to  believe  that  he  received 
no  harsher  treatment  than  the  written  and  oral  reproofs  of 
CEcolampadius.     In  his  examination  at  Geneva  (Aug.  23d), 
he  stated  that  he  left  Germany  on  account  of  his  poverty,  and 
because  he  did  not  understand  the  language  ;  but,  as  Mosheim 
observes,*  both  these  assertions  were  most  probably  false  ;  and 
indeed  the  former  is  refuted  by  his  own  letter  to  CEcolam- 
padius, before  quoted,  which  shows  a  desire  to  remain  in 
Getmany. 

On  leaving  Basle  Servetus  proceeded  toward  France,  but 

A  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  156. 

2  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Servets,  Beil.  ii. 

'  This  paper  of  CEcolampadius  will  be  found  in  Mosheim,  Beil.  iii. 

*  Ibid,  43. 


SERVETUS  REPAIRS  TO  FRANCE.  253 

stopped  at  Hagenaii  on  his  way  ;  where  he  published  two 
more  Dialogues  on  the  Trinity,  to  which  was  appended  a 
treatise  on  on  justification.^  In  the  preface  to  this  book  he 
retracted  all  that  he  had  said  in  his  former  work  ;  not,  how- 
ever, as  false,  but  as  childish  and  imperfect.'*  His  intercourse 
with  CEcolampadius  and  other  Reformers,  as  well  as  the  at- 
tacks which  had  been  made  upon  his  book,  had  acquainted 
him  with  many  objections  to  his  doctrines  of  which  he  was 
not  previously  aware,  and  which  he  now  took  a  fresh  oppor- 
tunity to  combat.  It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  second  Dia- 
logue Servetus  rejected  both  the  Lutheran  and  the  Zwinglian 
doctrine  of  the  eucharist,  and  seems  to  have  had  a  notion  of 
that  mystical  and  spiritual  presence  afterward  inculcated  by 
Calvin.^  He  concluded  his  book  by  claiming  the  liberty  of 
freely  interpreting  Scripture,  and  by  invoking  a  malediction 
on  "  the  tyrants  of  the  Church."'^ 

Servetus  probably  arrived  in  France  toward  the  end  of 
1531,  or  the  beginning  of  1532.  His  name  had  now  become 
too  well  known  to  be  borne  with  safety,  and  he  accordingly 
laid  it  aside,  and  called  himself  Michel  de  Villeneuve,  from 
the  place  of  his  birth.  He  had  by  this  time  discovered  that, 
though  heresy  might  consign  him  to  the  flames,  it  would  not 
supply  the  means  of  living  ;  and  that  the  care  of  men's  bodies 
offered  a  more  profitable  employment  than  meddling  with 
their  souls.  With  a  view  to  turn  physician,  he  entered  the 
College  des  Lombards,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of 
mathematics  and  medicine.  Mosheim  is  of  opinion  that  be- 
tween the  years  1532  and  1534  he  visited  Italy,  taking  every 
opportunity  of  circulating  his  books  and  spreading  his  doc- 
trines ;  and  thus  laying  the  foundation  of  those  heretical  opin- 
ions respecting  the  Trinity  which  afterward  became  so  prev- 
alent in  that  country.^  It  is  evident  from  some  passages  in 
his  works  that  he  had  been  in  Italy,  and  had  seen  the  Pope  ; 
but  it  is  possible  that  there  may  be  some  truth  in  that  part 
of  his  deposition  before  the  inquisitors  of  Vienne,  in  which  he 
stated  that  he  entered  the  suite  of  Quintana,  Charles  V.'s  con- 
fessor, in  1529,  and  was  in  it  when  that  emperor  was  crown- 
ed by  the  Pope  at  Bologna.^     In  this  case  he  probably  re- 

^  Dialogorum  de  Trinitate  Libri  Duo. 

*  The  preface  is  given  entire  in  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Set-vets,  p.  44. 
3  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  105,  note. 

*  "PerdatDominusomnesEcclesiae  tyrannos.  Amen."  Ibid. ,\i.\Q9,  note. 

*  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Serveta,  p.  55. 

®  Mosheim,  Neue  Nachrichteii,  p.  31.  Charles  V.  was  crowned  by  Clem 
ent  VII.,  February  22(1,  \mQ. 


254  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

turned  to  Spain  after  his  residence  at  Toulouse,  and  there 
entered  the  service  of  Quintana.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  he  had  returned  to  Paris  in  1534  ;  for  it  was  in  that 
year,  as  before  related,  that  he  challenged  Calvin  to  a  dispu- 
tation there.  Servetus  had  nov;^  attained  great  proficiency 
in  medicine  ;  but  he  w^as  not  rich  enough  to  pay  for  his  doc- 
tor's degree,  without  which  he  could  neither  lecture  nor  prac- 
tice. To  raise  the  necessary  sum  he  repaired  to  Lyons,  where 
he  obtained  employment  from  the  celebrated  printers,  Mel- 
chior  and  Caspar  Trechsel,  as  corrector  of  the  press.  Previ- 
ously, however,  to  his  journey  to  Lyons  he  appears  to  have 
spent  some  part  of  the  year  1534  at  Orleans.  John  Wier,  or 
Wierus,  in  his  book  "  Ve  Prcestigiis  DcsmonufJi,"  ^  alludes  to 
the  presence  of  Michael  Villanovus  at  that  university  in  the 
year  mentioned,  w^hen  Sleidan,  the  historian  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  Sturmius,  the  author  of  the  '' Antipappus,"  &c., 
were  also  there.  Wier  likewise  bears  testimony  to  the  Span- 
iard's abilities  in  the  science  of  miedicine.  At  Lyons  Servetus 
seems  to  have  been  employed  as  corrector  of  the  press  by  the 
Frellons,  who  were  noted  for  their  editions  of  valuable  works, 
especially  those  of  the  Fathers  ;  unless,  indeed,  his  connection 
with  those  booksellers  should  not  be  referred  to  a  later  period 
of  his  life,  viz.,  the  year  1540,  after  he  left  Charlieu.^  The 
employment  of  correcting  the  press  was  then  deemed  a  more 
honorable  one  than  it  is  considered  at  present.  The  number 
of  men  with  acquirements  sufficient  for  the  task  was  but 
small ;  and  some  of  the  most  eminent  scholars  in  Europe  did 
not  disdain  to  undertake  it.  Lyons,  too,  presented  many  at- 
tractions to  a  man  of  literary  habits.  It  abounded  with  rich 
and  generous  patrons  of  literature  among  the  Italian  mer- 
chants settled  there,  especially  the  Florentines.  Here  Serve- 
tus undertook  an  edition  of  the  works  of  Ptolemy,  which  he 
got  the  Trechsels  to  print  for  him  in  1535,  under  the  name  of 
Villanovanus.  In  this  performance  Servetus  exhibited  a  bet- 
ter Latin  style  than  in  his  theological  writings,  in  which  it  is 
generally  impure  and  embarrassed.  A  passage  in  this  work, 
in  which  he  gave  the  preference  to  Ptolemy's  description  of 
the  Holy  Land  as  being  unfruitful,  over  that  of  Moses,  was 
afterward  urged  against  him  on  his  trial  at  Geneva.  Even 
at  this  time  he  seems  to  have  been  preparing  his  "  Restitution 
of  Christianity"  {''Restitutio  Christia7iismi''),  and  to  have 
begun  his  correspondence  with  Calvin. 

1  Lib.  v.,  c.  6,  quoted  by  Mosheim,  Neue  Nachrickten,  p.  32, 

2  Ibid.,  p.  44. 


SERVETUS'S  MEDICAL  STUDIES.  255 

In  1536,  Servetus  found  himself  in  sufficient  funds  to  re- 
turn to  Paris  and  take  his  degrees  of  magister  and  doctor  of 
medicine.  He  was  now  deep  in  natural  science,  and  was 
reckoned  one  of  the  cleverest  physicians  in  France.  Of  the 
two  schools  of  physic  then  in  vogue  he  adopted  that  of  Galen 
in  preference  to  the  Arabian.  In  1537  he  published  his  book 
on  syrups,  entitled ''  Syroporu7n  Universa  Ratio."  His  subtle 
and  penetrating  mind  led  him  to  conjecture  the  circulation  of 
the  blood,  the  demonstration  of  which  was  reserved  for  our 
own  Harvey  ;  ^  though  it  has  been  thought  that  he  got  a  hint 
on  this  subject  from  the  works  of  Nemesius,  a  bishop  of  the 
fourth  century,  which  were  printed  at  Lyons  while  Servetus 
was  residing  there  as  corrector  of  the  press. ^  Astrology  still 
continued  a  favorite  pursuit  with  him.  Nor  in  the  midst  of 
all  these  avocations  did  he  neglect  theology,  but  employed 
himself  in  preparing  an  edition  of  the  Bible. 

The  lectures  of  Servetus  were  numerously  attended,  and 
were  received  with  an  applause  which  is  said  to  have  excited 
the  envy  and  ill-will  of  his  brother  professors.  Proud  and 
overbearing,  his  manners  were  but  little  calculated  to  mitigate 
such  feelings.  He  spoke  openly  and  without  reserve  of  the 
ignorance  of  contemporary  physicians,  and  charged  them  in 
particular  with  their  deficiency  in  the  knowledge  of  the  stars. 
Several  private  warnings  from  the  dean  of  faculty  to  carry 
himself  with  moderation,  and  especially  to  eschew  astrology, 
were  unheeded.  He  even  published  a  treatise  on  his  favorite 
science,  entitled  "Apologetica  Disceptatio  pro  Astrologia,"  in 
which  the  physicians  of  Paris  were  severely  attacked.  The 
faculty  succeeded,  however,  in  inducing  the  High  School  of 
Paris,  including  the  rector,  to  take  part  with  them  against 
the  obnoxious  lecturer.  A  complaint  was  lodged  in  the  par- 
liament of  Paris,  denouncing  him  as  an  astrologer,  and  pray- 
ing that  he  should  be  forbidden  to  prophesy  from  the  stars ; 

^  A  passage  containing  Servetus's  thoughts  on  this  subject  occurs  in  his 
Restituiio,  hb.  v.,  and  will  be  found  appended  to  Mosheim's  Geschichie 
Servets,  Beil.  449,  and  in  the  Bibliotheque  Anglaise,  vol.  i.  It  is  not  prob- 
able that  Harvey  should  have  seen  Servetus's  book,  and  he  is  therefore  en- 
titled to  ail  the  merit  of  an  original  discovery.  Mead,  the  physician,  who 
flourished  about  a  century  after  Harvey,  appears,  however,  to  have  pos- 
sessed a  copy,  which  was  used  by  M.  Audin  in  compiling  his  Vie  de  Calvin. 
It  contains  a  Latin  note  signed  by  Mead,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  the  book 
had  belonged  to  Colladon,  the  Genevese  jurisconsult,  who  had  drawn  up  an 
index  of  the  contents.  This  copy  bears  marks  of  the  fire,  and  Mead  thought 
it  was  the  only  one  which  had  escaped  the  flames  (Audin,  Vie  de  Calvin, 
ii.,  311). 

2  See  Biographic  Universelle,  art.  Servetus,  and  Dr.  Smith's  Did.  of  Greek 
and  Roman  Biography,  art.  Nemesius. 


256  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

but  Servetus  had  powerful  friends  who  got  the  matter  post- 
poned. His  assailants,  growing  impatient  at  the  delay,  ap- 
pealed to  the  tribunal  appointed  to  inquire  into  heresies,  but 
without  success.  At  length,  however,  in  March,  1538,^  the 
parliament  pronounced  sentence  against  him,  ordering  him  to 
destroy  the  book  which  he  had  written  against  the  Paris  phy- 
sicians, and  to  abandon  the  practice  of  astrology. 

Servetus  was  so  piqued  at  this  sentence  that  he  left  Paris 
for  Charlieu.  The  disgust  occasioned  by  it  may  also  have 
been  the  reason  why  he  never  assumed  the  title  conferred  by 
his  Paris  degree,  and  which  he  had  been  at  such  pains  to  pro- 
cure. At  Charlieu,  a  small  town  near  Lyons,  he  appears  to 
have  practiced  as  a  physician  for  two  or  three  years,  till  the 
arrogance  of  his  manners  obliged  him  to  quit  this  place  also.^ 
It  is  possible,  however,  that  his  peculiar  religious  opinions  may 
have  had  something  to  do  with  the  "follies"  which  obliged 
him  to  leave  that  town.  While  residing  there  he  attained 
his  thirtieth  year,  when  he  thought  that,  after  the  example 
of  Christ,  he  should  be  baptized  again ;  holding  that  before 
that  time  of  life  the  rite  was  unavailing ;  and  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  Calvin  he  exhorts  him  to  follow  his  example.^ 
Whether  he  was  actually  rebaptized  does  not  appear.  From 
a  passage  in  the  "  Restitutio  Christianismi,''  he  would  seem 
to  have  belonged  to  a  secret  sect,  of  Anabaptist  tendency, 
which  celebrated  the  Lord's  Supper  in  a  manner  different 
both  from  Protestants  and  Catholics.^ 

On  leaving  Charlieu,  in  1540,  he  repaired  to  Vienne,  in 
Dauphine.  Pierre  Palmier,  an  old  pupil  of  his,  who  had  at- 
tended his  lectures  at  Paris,  on  the  mathematics  and  astrono- 
my, had  obtained  the  see  of  Vienne.  Palmier  was  a  patron 
of  literature  ;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  at  his  invitation,  and 
that  of  his  brother,  the  prior  of  St.  Marcel,^  that  Servetus 
was  induced  to  settle  at  Vienne.  Lodgings  were  provided  for 
him  in  the  archiepiscopal  palace ;  and  here  he  seems  to  have 
lived  comfortably  enough,  conforming  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion,  and  making  a  good  deal  of  money  by  his  practice 
as  a  physician.     He  now  published  a  second  edition  of  his 

1  Mosheitn,  Geschichte  Servets,  p.  32,  and  Neue  Naclirickten,  p.  34. 

2  "  (Servetus) — horame  vrayment  fort  arrogant  et  insolent,  comma  testi- 
fient  ceux  qui  I'ont  cogneu  a  Charlieu,  ou  il  demeura  chez  la  Rivoire,  Pan 
1540.  Contrainct  de  se  partir  de  Charlieu  pour  les  folies  lesquelles  il  faisait, 
il  se  retira  a  Vieime  en  Dauphine,"  &;c. — Bolsec,  Vie  de  Calvin,  p.  4. 

3  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Servets,  p.  84. 

*  P.  Henry,  iii.,  123.     Mosheim,  Neue  Nachrichten,  p.  42. 
5  Mosheim,  Ibid.,  p.  29,  note. 


SBRVETUS  SETTLES  AT  VIENNE.  257 

"Ptolemy,"  which  he  dedicated  to  his  patron,  the  archbishop  ; 
and  in  which  he  struck  out  his  remarks  respecting  the  un- 
fruitf Illness  of  Canaan.  In  1542  he  brought  out  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible,  chiefly  founded  on  the  labors  of  a  learned 
monk  then  dead,  named  Xantes  Pagninus,  but  in  which  he 
took  the  opportunity  of  inculcating  his  own  peculiar  views. 
The  preface,  in  which  he  criticises  the  spirit  of  the  Hebrew 
language,  is  said  to  show  much  talent.^  The  title-page  bears 
the  words  ''  Lugdu7ii,  apud  Hugonem,  a  Porta;''  but  Lyons 
was  only  the  place  of  sale,  and  it  was  in  reality  printed  at 
Vienne,  where  Caspar  Trechsel,  who  had  separated  from  the 
brother,  had  set  up  a  printing  establishment.^  This  work  fell 
under  the  censure  of  the  Iloman  Catholic  Church,  and  was 
put  on  the  ''Index  Expitr gator ius''  at  Louvain. 

Servetus  had  obtained  the  office  of  municipal  physician  at 
Vienne,  and  might  have  lived  there  in  peace  to  the  end  of  his 
days,  had  not  his  fanatical  spirit  still  pursued  him.  He  imag- 
ined that  he  was  the  instrument  chosen  by  God  to  enlighten 
mankind ;  and  a  notion  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at 
hand,  and  the  millenium  approaching,  goaded  him  on  to  the 
fulfillment  of  his  fancied  mission.  He  was  now  at  work  on 
his  ''Restitutio  Christianisnii''  ("Restoration  of  Christian- 
ity") ;  and,  in  order  to  render  it  more  perfect,  endeavored  to 
renew  his  correspondence  with  Calvin.  Nothing  can  more 
strongly  show  the  difference  between  the  two  men  than  the 
fact,  that  while  Calvin  declined  to  edit  the  Apocalypse,  on 
account  of  its  obscurity,  Servetus  made  it  the  foundation  of 
his  "  Restitutio. ''  He  fancied  that  he  was  the  very  Michael 
pointed  out  as  combating  with  the  dragon,  which  he  took  to  be 
the  Pope.^  The  woman  he  interpreted  to  mean  the  Church, 
and  her  son,  whom  God  saves,  the  Christian  faith. 

Servetus  had  completed  the  manuscript  of  his  work  by 
the  year  1546,  and  sent  it  to  Geneva,  for  Calvin's  opinion, 
through  the  medium  of  Frellon,  with  whom  Calvin  was  also 
acquainted,  and  with  whom  he  corresponded  under  the  signa- 
ture of  Charles  D'Espeville.'*  Servetus  had  previously  writ- 
ten several  letters  to  Calvin,  with  the  view  of  obtaining  his 
opinion  on  certain  points  of  doctrine.     Among  other  ques- 

1  P.  Henry,  iii.,  124.  2  Moslieim,  Geschichte  Serveis,  p.  126. 

3  "And  there  was  war  in  heaven  :  Michael  and  his  angels  fought  against 
the  dragon." — Rev.  xii.,  7.  Beza  allows  that  Servetus  may  be  the  man 
meant,  provided  the  preposition  cum  be  not  interpreted  by  Kara  (against), 
but  by  avv  (in  conjunction  with). 

*  Jean  Frellon,  one  of  the  brothers,  seems  to  have  been  a  Calvinist  at 
heart  (Mosheira,  Neue  Nachrichtcn,  p.  .37). 


258  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

tions  put  by  him,  the  following  are  recorded :  1 .  Whether 
the  crucified  man  Jesus  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  what  is  the 
ratio  of  this  filiation  ?  2.  Whether  the  kingdon  of  Christ 
exist  among  men  ;  at  what  time  any  one  enters  it ;  and  when 
he  is  regenerated  ?  3.  Whether  baptism  should  be  adminis- 
tered to  those  already  in  the  faith,  like  the  supper ;  and  for 
what  purpose  these  sacraments  were  instituted  in  the  New 
Testament  ?  ^  To  these  questions  Calvin  replied  ;  but  Serve- 
tus  having  answered  with  some  insolence,  he  now  abruptly 
broke  off  the  correspondence,  alleging  want  of  leisure  ;  at  the 
same  time  addressing  some  earnest  reproofs  to  Servetus,  and 
referring  him  to  his  "  Institutes"  for  any  information  he  might 
want.  This  roused  the  Spaniard's  pride,  who,  according  to 
Calvin's  account,  sent  him  several  letters  full  of  abuse  and 
blasphemy ;  and  also  forwarded  to  him  a  copy  of  his  own 
"Institutes,"  covered  in  the  margin  with  bitter  manuscript 
notes. 

Calvin  intimated  his  rejection  of  Servetus's  correspondence 
in  a  letter  to  their  common  friend  Frellon,  dated  the  13th  of 
February,  1546.^  In  this  letter,  which  inclosed  another  to 
Servetus,  Calvin  says,  that  to  satisfy  Frellon,  he  had  again 
written  to  Servetus,  but  with  small  hope  of  doing  any  good ; 
that  he  was  willing  to  try  if  he  could  be  converted,  but  that 
this  could  not  happen  till  God  had  completely  turned  his 
heart ;  that  as  he  had  written  to  him  in  so  haughty  a  tone, 
he  had  wished  to  put  him  down  a  little,  and  had  therefore 
addressed  him  more  harshly  than  was  his  custom :  but  that 
nothing  was  more  necessary  than  that  he  should  be  taught 
humility.  "I  shair  rejoice,"  continues  Calvin,  "if  God  be 
so  gracious  both  to  him  and  us,  that  the  present  answer  may 
be  of  profit  to  him.  But  if  he  perseveres  in  his  present  style, 
you  will  lose  your  time  in  soliciting  me  to  take  any  trouble 
about  him  ;  for  I  have  other  and  more  pressing  business,  and 
shall  make  it  a  point  of  conscience  not  to  occupy  myself 
about  him ;  as  I  doubt  not  that  he  is  a  Satan  intended  to 
divert  me  from  other  more  useful  studies." 

The  tone  of  Calvin's  letter  betrays  somewhat  of  the  pride 
which  he  found  fault  with  in  Servetus ;  and  though  it  seems 
to  express  some  interest  in  his  welfare  and  conversion,  the  real 
state  of  Calvin's  feelings  toward  the  unhappy  Spaniard  is  best 
shown  by  another  which  he  addressed,  on  the  very  same  day, 
to  his  friend  Farel.     The  authenticity  of  this  letter,  which 

1  D'Artigny,  Nouv.  Memoires,  &c,,  ii.,  69. 
^  See  Appendix,  No.  II 


CALVIN  RENOUNCES  SERVETUS.         259 

has  been  sometimes  doubted,  is  now  fully  recognized.  The 
original,  though  not  printed  in  Beza's  collection,  is  extant  in 
the  Bibliotheque  du  Roi,  at  Paris,  and  there  is  a  copy  at  Gen- 
eva. In  it  the  following  passage  occurs  :  "  Servetus  wrote  to 
me  lately,  and  accompanied  his  letter  with  a  long  volume  of 
his  insanities,  adding  a  thrasonical  boast  that  I  should  see 
some  wonderful,  and,  as  yet,  unheard  of  things.  He  offers  to 
come  hither  if  I  will  allow  jiim.  But  I  am  unwilling  to  give 
any  pledge  ;  for  if  he  does  come,  and  my  authority  be  of  any  i 
avail,  I  will  never  suffer  him  to  depart  alive."  ^  ^^"^ 

The  "long  volume"  alluded  to  by  Calvin  in  this  letter 
must  have  been  the  manuscript  of  the  "  Restitutio  Chris- 
tianismi,'^  which  was  therefore  now  complete  and  ready  for 
the  press.  Calvin  forwarded  it  to  Viret,  at  Lausanne,  and 
when  Servetus  wished  to  have  it  back  again,  it  was  not  forth- 
coming. It  appears  that  when  Calvin  rejected  his  corre- 
spondence, Servetus  applied  himself  to  Viret ;  ^  and  that  he 
also  wrote  three  letters  to  Abel  Pepin,  or  Poupin,  one  of  the 
Genevese  ministers,  with  a  view  to  get  his  manuscript  re- 
stored^ in  order  to  correct  it;  but  without  success.  One  of 
these  letters  is  extant,  having  been  used  against  him  on  his 
trial  at  Geneva ;  and  has  been  printed  by  Mosheim  in  the 
appendix  to  his  account  of  Servetus.  Every  line  of  it  be- 
trays the  heated  and  fanatical  imagination  of  the  writer,  and 
his  hatred  of  Calvin  and  the  Genevese  church.  It  contains 
a  prediction  of  the  fate  which  awaited  himself,  and  expresses 
a  determination  to  bear  it  with  fortitude,  as  a  worthy  disciple 
of  Christ ;  ^  but  as  he  well  knew  his  own  temper,  and  the 
circumstances  of  the  times,  there  is,  perhaps,  nothing  very 
surprising  in  such  a  prophecy.  To  this  letter  there  will  be 
occasion  to  refer  again. 

Soon  after  this  period  the  orthodoxy  of  Servetus  seems  to 
have  been  suspected  at  Vienne,  though  it  does  not  appear  that 
any  steps  were  taken  against  him  in  consequence.  Servetus 
attributed  the  origin  of  these  suspicions  to  the  secret  machina- 
tions of  Calvin,  who,  however,  denied  the  imputation  in  his 
''  Refutatio  ;''  nor  is  there  any  evidence  to  fix  it  upon  him.* 

1  See  Appendix,  No.  III.  Bolsec  {Vie  de  Calvin,  p.  4)  gives  an  extract 
from  a  letter  of  Calvin's  to  Viret,  to  the  same  effect;  but  its  authenticity  is 
doubtful.     See  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  119,  note. 

2  Calvin  to  Viret,  September,  1548,  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  ii.,  460 

3  See  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Servets,  Beil.  415. 

*  "  I  knovsr  I  must  die  for  this  matter;  but,  that  I  may  be  a  disciple  like 
my  master,  I  am  not  disheartened  thereby." — Ibid. 

*  See  Bibliothiquc  raisonn&e  des  Ouvrages  des  Savans  de  V Europe,  vol. 
L,  p.  379,  et  seq. 


260  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Yet,  ill  his  life  and  conversation  at  Vienne,  Servetus  seems  to 
have  been  constantly  on  his  guard ;  and  when  afterward  ex- 
amined by  the  inquisition  there,  he  boldly  appealed  to  the 
numerous  monks  and  other  ecclesiastics  with  whom  he  had 
been  acquainted,  to  produce  any  instance  of  his  inclination 
toward  heresy.^  Neither  this  suspicion,  however,  nor  the  loss 
of  his  manuscript,  deterred  him  from  completing  his  projected 
work.  He  either  possessed  another  copy,  or  took  the  pains 
of  writing  it  afresh  ;  but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  taken  any 
active  steps  toward  its  publication  before  the  year  1552.  Early 
in  that  year  he  applied  to  his  friend  Marrinus,  who  resided  at 
Basle,  to  get  it  printed  for  him  in  that  town  f  but  this  not 
succeeding,  he  determined  on  effecting  his  object  at  Vienne 
itself. 

Archbishop  Palmier' s  patronage  of  literature  had  attracted 
some  printers  to  Vienne,  among  whom  was  one  Balthazar 
Arnoullet,  whom  Servetus  selected  for  his  purpose.  Guillaume 
Gueroult,  the  corrector  of  his  press,  was  a  bitter  enemy  of 
Calvin,  having  been  driven  by  him  from  Geneva,  and  there- 
fore might  easily  be  gained.  With  Arnoullet  himself  there 
was  more  difficulty,  as  he  at  first  hesitated  to  print  a  book 
which  had  not  received  the  sanction  of  the  ecclesiastical  au- 
thorities. These  scruples  were  removed  by  a  bribe  of  one 
hundred  dollars  ;  a  large  sum  in  those  days,  and  which  testi- 
fies at  once  to  the  fanatical  heat  of  Servetus's  zeal,  and  the 
success  with  which  he  had  pursued  the  profession  of  medicine. 
Two  presses  were  secretly  erected,  and  Servetus  undertook  to 
correct  the  proofs  himself.  The  first  sheet  was  printed  about 
Michaelmas,  1552,  and  early  in  January,  1553,  the  impression 
was  complete.  Several  bales  of  the  book  were  forwarded  to 
Lyons,  Chatillon,  Frankfort,  and  Geneva.  One  of  the  copies 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Calvin. 

There  was  at  that  time  living  at  Geneva  one  GuiUaume 
Trie,  a  citizen  of  Lyons,  who  had  left  his  native  town  for  the 
sake  of  religion,  but  was  still  in  correspondence  with  a  relation, 
named  Antoine  Arneys,  a  zealous  Papist,  living  at  Lyons,  and 
who  seems  to  have  been  desirous  of  persuading  Trie  to  return 
to  the  church  he  had  deserted.  In  one  of  his  letters,  Arneys 
would  seem  to  have  insisted  very  strongly  on  the  authority  and 
tradition  of  the  Romish  faith,  and  to  have  reproached  the 
church  of  Geneva  with  being  totally  destitute  of  ecclesiastical 
order  and  discipline.     Trie  was  stung  by  these  charges,  and 

-  Mosheim,  Neue  Nachrichten,  p.  54. 
2  Ibid,,  p.  45. 


SERVETUS  DENOUNCED  BY  TRIE.        261 

replied  to  them  in  a  letter  dated  Feb.  26th,  1553  ;^  in  which, 
after  some  general  remarks,  he  expressed  his  astonishment  at 
Arney's  charging  the  Genevan  church  with  a  want  of  disci- 
pline, when,  on  the  contrary,  vice  was  better  chastised  there 
than  by  all  the  Romish  tribunals.  He  affirmed  that,  in  spite 
of  the  liberty  enjoyed  at  Geneva,  blasphemy  was  not  suffered 
to  go  unpunished,  and  that  all  false  doctrine  and  heresies  were 
repressed  ;  and  by  way  of  contrast,  and  to  cover  his  opponent 
with  confusion,  he  alleged  that  close  by  where  he  dwelt  a 
heretic  was  tolerated,  who  deserved  to  be  burned  wherever  he 
was  found,  by  Papists  as  well  as  by  Protestants.  By  "  heretic" 
he  meant  one  who  denied  the  Trinity,  called  it  a  Cerberus, 
and  monster  of  hell,  and  vented  all  conceivable  blasphemy  and 
abuse  against  that  sacred  mystery.  He  stated  that  he  had 
adduced  this  example  in  order  that  there  might  be  no  question 
as  to  what  was  heretical ;  for  Arneys  himself  would  confess 
that  this  was  not  only  a  detestable  heresy,  but  that  it  tended 
to  subvert  Christianity  itself  Is  it  not  shameful,  he  said,  that 
you  should  put  to  death  those  who  invoke  one  God  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  who  maintain  that  there  is  no  other  satisfac- 
tion but  his  death  and  passion,  no  purgatory  but  in  his  blood ; 
who  hold  that  there  is  no  service  pleasing  to  God  but  that 
delivered  in  his  word ;  that  all  pictures  and  images  are  idols 
that  profane  his  majesty;  that  the  sacraments  should  be  used 
only  according  to  the  institution  of  Christ ;  that  men  of  these 
opinions  should  not  be  simply  punished  with  death,  but  cruelly 
burned,  while  one  who  called  Christ  an  idol,  who  would  destroy 
the  very  foundation  of  faith,  who  would  revive  all  the  dreams 
of  ancient  heretics,  who  would  condemn  infant  baptism,  and 
call  it  a  diabohcal  invention ;  that  such  a  one  should  not  only 
be  tolerated,  but  even  be  in  vogue  and  honor?  "Where," 
continued  Trie,  "  is  the  police  of  your  boasted  hierarchy  ? 
The  man  I  speak  of  has  been  condemned  by  all  the  churches 
which  you  reprove  ;  yet  he  is  allowed  to  live  among  you,  and 
even  to  print  books  so  full  of  blasphemies  that  I  can  say  no 
more  of  them.  He  is  a  Spaniard,  and  his  real  name  is  Michael 
Servetus,  but  he  now  calls  himself  Villeneuve,  and  practices 
medicine.  Some  time  ago  he  lived  at  Lyons,  but  he  is  at 
present  residing  at  Vienne,  where  the  book  I  speak  of  has 
been  printed  by  a  man  named  Balthazar  Arnoullet,  who  has 
set  up  a  press  there.     And,  in  order  that  you  may  not  think 

'  See  Appendix,  No.  IV.,  where  Trie's  letters  are  given  at  full  length. 
They  are  extant  in  the  appendix  to  Mosheim's  Neue  Nachrichten,  in  the 
Nouveaux  Mimoire:<  d' Histoire,  &c.,  and  in  Chauftepie,  art.  Servetus. 


262  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

I  speak  on  trust  and  at  second-hand,  I  send  you  the  first  sheet 
as  a  proof." 

This  letter  naturally  suggests  the  following  inquiries.  How 
came  Trie,  who  describes  himself  as  a  comparatively  unlettered 
man,  by  his  knowledge  of  a  book  written  in  Latin,  on  abstruse 
points  of  scriptural  controversy,  in  about  a  month  after  its  re- 
ceipt at  Geneva  ?  How  did  he  learn  the  true  name,  profession, 
and  history  of  the  author  ?  And,  thirdly,  by  what  means  did 
he  become  acquainted  with  the  fact,  that  it  had  been  printed 
by  Arnoullet  at  Vienne  ? 

To  the  first  of  these  questions  it  might  possibly  be  answered, 
that  the  book  had  been  denounced  from  the  pulpit,  and  in 
conversation,  by  Calvin  and  other  ministers.  With  respect 
to  the  second,  it  is  highly  improbable  that  Trie  should  have 
got  his  information  from  any  body  but  Calvin.  The  latter 
was  acquainted  with  the  whole  of  Servetus's  career ;  had  seen 
his  work  in  manuscript;  had  corresponded  with  him,  and  still 
had  many  of  his  letters  in  his  possession.  The  third  question 
it  is  impossible  to  answer ;  but  it  is  evident  that  the  secret 
of  Servetus  must  have  been  betrayed  by  some  false  friend. 
Mosheim  and  Dr.  Henry  are  of  opinion  that  Frellon  commu- 
nicated the  fact  to  Calvin.^ 

There  is  another  remarkable  point  in  Trie's  letter.  It  was 
evidently  written  with  the  intention  of  destroying  Servetus. 
Trie  was  aware  that  the  French  authorities,  so  far  from 
knowing  the  author  of  the  book,  did  not  even  know  of  its  ex- 
istence. If  this  was  not  so,  why  did  Trie  take  such  pains  to 
point  out  the  author]  To  adduce  such  minute  particulars 
respecting  him,  and  even  to  inclose  a  portion  of  the  book, 
merely  by  way  of  general  argument  and  remonstrance,  would 
have  been  superfluous  and  absurd.  Yet,  knowing  that  the 
Roman  Catholic  prelates  were  unacquainted  both  with  the 
book  and  its  author.  Trie  gravely  charges  them  with  willfully 
harboring  and  encouraging  a  heretic !  and  that,  too,  at  a  time 
when  the  frequent  burnings  of  Protestants  in  France  fur- 
nished but  a  too  convincing  and  dreadful  proof  of  Popish  zeal. 
It  is  plain  that  consistency  is  overlooked  or  disregarded,  in  the 
wish  to  sacrifice  Servetus.  Trie  affects  to  believe  that  the 
heretic  was  perfectly  well  known  at  Vienne,  and  yet  writes 
in  a  manner  which  shows  that  he  was  persuaded  of  the  con- 
trary ;  but  which,  at  the  same  time,  manifests  the  real  object 
of  his  letter. 

What  could  have  been  Trie's  motive  ?  He  does  not  seem 
1  Mosheim,  Neue  Nacknchte?i,  P.  .51,  and  Leben  Calvins,  iii.,  141. 


APPREHENSION  OF  SERVETUS.  263 

to  have  had  any  previous  quarrel,  or  even  acquaintance,  with 
Servetus ;  hke  Calvin,  who,  seven  years  previously,  had  ex- 
pressed a  wish  for  his  death.  Was  it  pure  zeal  for  the  Church  1 
But  in  that  case,  would  not  a  man  in  Trie's  position  have  con- 
sulted Calvin  about  the  step  he  was  induced  to  take  ?  Dr. 
Henry  thinks  that  Trie's  feelings  were  embittered  by  the  per- 
secutions of  his  Protestant  brethren  in  France.  But  how  would 
it  have  soothed  them  to  send  a  fresh  victim  to  the  flames  by 
Popish  hands  ?  The  same  writer  offers  another  conjecture.^ 
Calvia  might  have  expressed  his  displeasure  at  Servetus's 
work  in  Trie's  presence,  who  incontinently  writes  off  to  Lyons 
to  get  Servetus  burned.  Here  the  scene  shifts.  Trie's  bitter- 
ness for  the  fate  of  his  evangelical  brethren  vanishes,  and  he 
becomes  the  the  dme  damnee  of  Calvin.  But  again  it  may 
be  asked,  would  he  not  have  consulted  Calvin  about  a  pro-' 
ceeding  which,  for  aught  he  knew,  might  have  seriously  com- 
promised him  ?  The  case  seems  weak  which  must  be  propped 
by  such  conjectures. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Abbe  d'Artigny  goes  farther  than 
the  evidence  warrants,  in  positively  asserting^  that  Trie's  let- 
ter was  written  at  Calvin's  dictation,  and  in  calling  it  Calvin's 
letter  in  the  name  of  Trie.  It  is  just  possible  that  Trie  may 
have  written  it  without  Calvin's  knowledge  ;  and  the  latter 
is  therefore  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  doubt.  He  can  not 
be  absolutely  proved  to  have  taken  the  first  step  in  delivering 
Servetus  into  the  fangs  of  the  Roman  Catholic  inquisition ; 
but  what  we  shall  now  have  to  relate  will  show  that  he  at 
least  aided  and  abetted  it. 

Soon  after  the  receipt  of  Trie's  letter,  Arneys,  as  had  doubt- 
less been  anticipated,  laid  it  before  the  ecclesiastical  author- 
ities. Cardinal  Tournon,  a  zealous  Papist,  and  bloodthirsty 
persecutor  of  the  Protestants,  was  at  that  time  Archbishop 
of  Lyons  :  and  his  inquisitorial  researches  were  assisted  by 
Matthias  Ory,  a  subtle  Italian,  whom  the  cardinal  had  ex- 
pressly brought  from  Rome.  On  the  16th  of  March  Servetus 
was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  court  of  Vienne,  where 
Monsieur  de  Montgiron,  Lieutenant-general  of  Dauphine,  pre- 
sided. It  is  supposed  that  Servetus  had  received  information 
of  the  nature  of  the  summons  from  his  friend  M.  de  la  Court, 
one  of  the  judges,  and  had  thus  had  time  to  get  rid  of  all  sus- 
picious papers.^     He  kept  the  tribunal  waiting  two  hours,  at 

'  Leben  Calvins,  iii.,  138. 
^  In  the  Nouveaux  Mimoire  d' Histoire,  &c. 
^  ^  Mosheim,  Neue  Nachrichten,  p.  54. 


264  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

the  end  of  which  time  he  appeared  with  a  very  unembarrassed 
countenance.  He  affirmed  that  he  had  lived  long  at  Vienne, 
and  had  frequently  kept  company  with  ecclesiastics,  but  had 
never  yet  been  suspected  of  entertaining  heretical  opinions  ; 
that  he  was  willing  that  his  apartments  should  be  searched, 
in  order  to  avert  the  suspicions  not  only  of  the  court,  but  of 
any  body  else ;  for  that  he  had  always  been  desirous  to  avoid 
all  cause  for  such  sentiments  being  imputed  to  him.  The 
judges,  accompanied  by  the  secretary  of  M.  de  Montgiron, 
searched  his  apartments,  but  found  nothing  of  a  nature  to 
criminate  him. 

On  the  following  day,  the  17th  of  March,  Gueroult  was 
apprehended  and  examined,  but  with  the  same  result.  The 
portion  of  the  '^Restitutio"  forwarded  by  Trie,  and  which 
seems  to  have  consisted  of  the  title-page,  index,  and  a  few  of 
the  first  leaves,^  was  then  submitted  to  all  the  printers  in 
Vienne,  and  they  were  interrogated  separately  as  to  whether 
they  had  any  knowledge  of  such  a  book.  As  they  unani- 
mously denied  it,  they  were  required  to  give  in  an  inventory 
of  all  the  books  which  they  had  printed  during  the  two  pre- 
vious years,  but  none  was  found  to  be  in  octavo.  Arnoullet 
himself  happened  to  be  absent  on  a  journey ;  he  returned, 
however,  on  the  18th,  and  was  immediately  summoned  before 
the  tribunal ;  but  no  evidence  could  be  produced  against  him. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  court  determined  that  the  proof 
was  insufficient  to  warrant  any  proceedings  against  Servetus, 
or  rather  Villeneuve ;  and  wrote  to  Ory  to  come  to  Vienne. 
The  Italian  inquisitor  perceived  that  the  original  source  must 
be  again  resorted  to.  On  his  return  to  Lyons  he  sent  for 
Arneys,  and  directed  him  to  write  another  letter  to  Trie,  the 
contents  of  which  were  dictated  by  himself  In  it  Trie  was 
requested  to  send  the  whole  book,  of  which  he  had  forwarded 
some  leaves. 

Trie's  answer  is  dated  on  the  26th  of  March.  It  is  a  model 
of  hypocrisy.  He  protests  that  he  did  not  think  the  matter 
would  have  gone  so  far,  nor  that  Arneys  would  have  shown 
his  letter  to  those  whom  he  had  accused  of  lukewarmness  : 
as  such,  however,  was  the  case,  he  hoped  God  would  make  it 
a  means  of  purging  Christianity  from  such  deadly  pests.  If 
the  authorities  were  really  hearty  in  the  cause,  there  was  no 
difficulty  in  the  affair.  He  could  not,  indeed,  at  present  fur- 
nish the  printed  book  for  which  he  had  been  asked ;  but  he 
would  put  into  Arneys'  hands  something  more  convincing, 
'  BibliotMque  Anglaue,  ii.,  102, 


CALVIN'S  EVIDENCE  AGAINST  SERVETUS.  265 

viz.,  two  dozen,  papers  written  by  the  person  in  question,  and 
containing  some  of"  his  heresies.  If  the  printed  book  was 
placed  before  the  accused  he  might  deny  it,  which  he  could 
not  do  with  regard  to  his  handwriting.  After  stating  that 
there  were  other  documents  which  might  be  produced,  Trie 
continues  :  "But  I  must  confess  that  I  have  had  great  trouble 
to  get  what  I  send  you  from  M.  Calvin.  Not  that  he  is  un- 
v/illing  that  such  execrable  blasphemies  should  be  punished  ; 
but  that  it  seems  to  him  to  be  his  duty,  as  he  does  not  wield 
the  sword  of  justice,  to  refute  heresy  by  his  doctrines,  rather 
than  to  pursue,  it  by  such  methods.  I  have,  however,  impor- 
tuned him  so  much,  representing  to  him  that  I  should  incur 
the  reproach  of  levity  if  he  did  not  help  me,  that  he  has  at 
last  consented  to  hand  over  what  I  send.  For  the  rest,  I  am 
in  hopes  that  if  the  matter  is  entertained  in  your  quarter,  I 
shall  be  able  to  get  from  him  a  ream  of  paper,  or  thereabouts, 
being  the  manuscript  of  what  this  gallant  has  printed.  But 
it  seems  to  me  that  you  have  now  proof  enough,  and  there  is 
no  longer  any  mystery,  nor  reason  why  he  should  not  be  seized 
and  put  upon  his  trial." 

Calvin  is  here  brought  into  direct  and  immediate  connec- 
tion with  these  proceedings.  He  forwards  to  the  officers  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  inquisition,  letters  which  the  unhappy 
writer  of  them  had  sent  to  him  under  the  seal  of  secrecy  and 
confidence  ;  ^  and  if  these  documents  should  prove  insufficient, 
he  holds  out  the  hope  that  he  will  furnish  more.  It  is  true 
that  he  is  represented  as  taking  this  step  with  extreme  reluct- 
ance. A  great  principle  was  involved,  on  which  he  had 
already  expressed  his  sentiments  in  the  first  edition  of  his 
"  Institutes ;"  no  less  a  one  than  whether  heretics  should  be 
confuted  by  reason,  or  consigned  to  the  flames.  He  had  al- 
ready decided  for  the  former  of  these  courses ;  and  his  feelings 
of  "duty"  dictated  that  he  should  pursue  it  on  the  present 
occasion.  But  the  reputation  of  a  friend  is  at  stake.  The 
principle,  however  momentous,  is  abandoned,  and  Servetus 
must  burn  lest  William  Trie  should  pass  for  a  light  and 
frivolous  person.     Such,  at  least,  is  the  ostensible  motive. 

The  "  two  dozen  papers"  forwarded  by  Trie  were  the  let- 
ters which  Servetus  had  sent  to  Calvin  during  the  corre- 
spondence to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made ;  accom- 
panied with  some  pages  from  the  chapter  ''  De  Baptismo'^  in 
Calvin's   "Institutes,"  covered  with  marginal  notes  in  the 

1  «'  Sub  siffillo  secr^ti  et  comme  fratemelle  correction." — Servetus's  de- 
position at  Vienne,  April  6th. 

M 


266  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

handwriting  of  Servetus.  It  has  been  related,  that  when 
Calvin,  in  breaking  off  his  correspondence  with  him,  referred 
the  Spaniard  to  that  work  for  any  information  that  he  might 
want,  the  latter  sent  him  his  own  book,  with  bitter  comments 
in  the  margin.  Still,  however,  Ory  was  not  quite  satisfied 
with  the  proof.  Handwriting  might  be  denied  on  oath,  and 
was  not  considered  satisfactory  evidence  in  inquisitorial  pro- 
ceedings. The  main  points  to  be  proved  were,  that  the 
''Restitutio  Christianismi"  was  printed  at  Vienne ;  that 
Villeneuve  was  the  author  of  it ;  and  that  Villeneuve  and 
Servetus  were  identical.  In  the  portion  of  the  "Restitutio  ' 
forwarded  by  Trie  with  his  first  letter,  there  was  nothing  1o 
show  who  was  the  author.  Servetus  had  learned  a  little  cau- 
tion by  experience  ;  and,  instead  of  inserting  his  name  at  full 
length  in  the  title-page  of  the  book,  as  he  had  done  in  his 
"De  Trinitatis  Erroribus,""  had  merely  placed  the  mark 
tWs  (^-^-j  Michael  Servetus  Villanovanus)  at  the  end.^  Yet 
the  characteristic  vanity  of  the  man  still  clung  to  him,  aud 
even  in  this  book  he  had  gratified  it,  though  in  a  less  open 
manner,  yet  in  a  way  w^hich  might  have  cost  him  his  life. 
Part  of  the  "  Restitutio"  was  written  in  the  form  of  dialogues. 
In  the  first  of  these,  one  of  the  interlocutors  is  named  Mi- 
chael ;  and  at  the  opening  of  it,  the  other,  called  Peter,  says : 
"  Behold  he  comes  I  It  is  Servetus,  the  person  whom  I  w^-is 
seeking  ;"^  a  contrivance  by  which  he  seems  to  have  wished 
to  assert  the  authorship  of  the  book,  without  parading  his 
name  too  conspicuously. 

Ory  thought  more  evidence  might  be  obtained,  and  again 
requested  Arneys  to  write  to  his  relative.  Trie  was  now  de- 
sired to  send  the  manuscript  of  the  "  Restitutio,''  and  some 
stronger  proof  that  Villeneuve  was  Servetus.  He  was  like- 
wise asked  to  give  his  authority  for  the  assertion  that  Gue- 
roult  and  Arnoullet  had  been  concerned  in  printing  the  work. 
A  special  messenger  was  dispatched  with  this  letter  to  Gen- 
eva ;  and  though  it  was  late  at  night  when  he  arrived.  Trie" 
immediately  sat  down  to  answer  it. 

Trie's  third  and  last  letter  is  dated  on  the  31st  of  March. 
He  points  out  that  in  the  last  of  the  letters  which  he  had 
already  sent,  the  Spaniard  excuses  himself  for  assuming  the 
name  of  Villeneuve,  when  his  real  name  was  Servetus  or 
Reves,  alleging  that  he  had  adopted  it  from  the  place  of  his 

1  See  P.  Hemy,  iii.,  Beil.  81. 

^  "En  adest;  Servetus  est,  quern  ego  quserebam." — Bibliotkique  An- 
glaifte,  ii.,  102. 

4: 


FURTHER  PROCEEDINGS  AGAIiNST  SERVETUS.         267 

birth.  As  to  the  manuscript,  he  would  send  it  if  necessary, 
but  it  had  been  at  Lausanne  for  a  couple  of  years.  Had  it 
been  in  Calvin's  possession  he  would  long  ago  have  sent  it 
back  to  the  author  ;  but  the  latter  had  addressed  it  to  others 
besides  him,  who  had  retained  it.  Trie  then  mentions  that 
Servetus  had  been  banished  by  the  principal  churches  of 
Germany  twenty-four  years  previously  ;  and  that  the  first  and 
second  letters  of  CEcolampadius  were  addressed  to  him  under 
his  real  name.  Melancthon  had  also  spoken  of  him.  With 
regard  to  the  printers,  he  would  not  give  up  the  source  from 
which  he  knew  that  they  were  Arnoullet  and  his  brother-in- 
law,  Gueroult  ;  but  said  that  he  was  well-assured  of  the  fact, 
and  that  they  would  not  be  able  to  deny  it.  The  work  might, 
probably,  have  been  printed  at  the  expense  of  the  author,  who 
might  have  taken  possession  of  the  copies  ;  but  they  would 
find  that  it  had  proceeded  from  the  office  he  had  named. 

Ory  having  now  procured  all  the  evidence  he  could,  notified 
it  to  Cardinal  Tournon  ;  who,  on  the  4th  of  April,  1553,  as- 
sembled his  clergy  in  the  castle  of  Rousillon.  At  this  meet- 
ing the  Archbishop  of  Vienne,  Ory,  and  others  were  present. 
Palmier  must  have  been  well  acquainted  with  the  handwrit- 
ing of  his  old  master,  and  would  easily  have  recognized  it  in 
the  documents  furnished  by  Trie.  The  result  of  this  deliber- 
ation was  that  it  was  resolved  to  apprehend  Villeneuve  [alias 
Servetus)  and  Arnoullet. 

It  was  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  before  the  archbishop  got 
back  to  Vienne  ;  but  he  immediately  proceeded  to  carry  the 
resolution  into  efiect.  Servetus  was  attending  upon  Madame 
de  Montgiron,  who  was  unwell.  A  message  was  sent  re- 
questing his  attendance  on  some  sick  persons  in  the  Palais 
Delphinal,  who  were  actually  in  the  royal  prison  ;  and  Ser- 
vetus on  his  arrival  thus  found  himself  a  captive.  Never- 
theless, he  was  treated  with  consideration  and  respect,  being 
allowed  to  retain  his  servant,  and  to  receive  the  visits  of  his 
friends.  Arnoullet  was  arrested  at  the  same  time,  and  con- 
fined in  a  separate  prison. 

Next  morning  Palmier  dispatched  a  messenger  to  Roussil- 
lon  to  acquaint  Cardinal  Tournon  with  what  had  been  done, 
and  to  summon  the  inquisitor-general  to  Vienne.  Ory  mounted 
his  horse  and  rode  so  fast  that  he  was  at  Vienne  by  ten  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  After  dinner  Servetus  was  brought  before 
the  tribunal,  which  consisted  of  Ory,  Louis  Arzellier,  the 
archbishop's  vicar-general,  and  Antoine  de  la  Court,  vi-bailli 
and  lieutenant  of  Vienne. 


268  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Servetiis  having  been  sworn,  was  interrogated  as  to  his 
name,  age,  and  course  of  hfe.^  As  the  answers  which  he 
gave  during  this  examination  differ  in  several  points  from  the 
account  which  has  been  given  of  him  in.  the  preceding  pages, 
it  will  be  proper  to  record  them  here.  He  affirmed  that  his 
name  was  Michel  de  Villeneuve  ;  that  he  was  a  doctor  of 
medicine,  forty-two  years  of  age,  or  thereabout ;  that  he  was 
a  native  of  Tudelle,  in  the  kingdom  of  Navarre,  and  had 
been  residing  at  Vienne  for  more  than  twelve  years.  He 
stated  that  about  twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight  years  ago  he 
entered  the  service  of  Quintana,  the  confessor  of  Charles  V.  ; 
and  that  when  the  emperor  left  Spain  to  be  crowned  at  Bo- 
logna, he  was  in  Quintana's  suite ;  that  he  afterward  pro- 
ceeded with  him  into  Germany,  where  he  lived  with  him  till 
his  death  ;  that  after  that  event  he  went  to  Paris,  and  resided 
for  some  time  at  the  College  Calvi  ;  whence  he  removed  to 
the  College  des  Lombards ;  that  he  afterward  proceeded  to 
Lyons  where  he  resided  for  some  time,  and  after  a  short  visit 
to  Avignon  returned  to  Lyons  ;  that  from  thence  he  went  to 
Charlieu,  where  he  practiced  physic  for  two  or  ^three  years ; 
that  from  Charlieu  he  returned  again  to  Lyons ;  and  that 
finally,  at  the  persuasion  of  the  Archbishop  of  Vienne,  and 
of  his  brother,  he  came  to  reside  at  that  city,  where  he  had 
remained  ever  since. 

A  great  part  of  this  deposition  is  undoubtedly  false,  and 
a  little  reflection  on  the  prisoner's  situation  will  enable  us  to 
pronounce  pretty  confidently  what  is  so.  His  main  object 
was  to  prevent  himself  from  being  identified  as  the  arch-here- 
tic, Servetus  ;  and  with  this  view  he  forbore  to  mention  his 
residence  at  the  University  of  Toulouse,  where  he  had  passed 
by  his  real  name  of  Serveto,  or  Reves,^  both  of  which  he 
had  put  in  the  title-page  of  his  first  work.  Had  he  admitted 
having  been  there,  the  books  of  the  university  might  have 
been  searched,  and  his  identity  established.  The  time  which 
he  appears,  from  his  answers  subsequently  at  Geneva,  to  have 
passed  there,  he  now  averred  that  he  had  spent  in  the  service 
of  Quintana  ,  which  he  must  have  entered,  if  what  he  said 
be  true,  in  the  year  1525,  or  1526,  when  he  was  sixteen  or 
seventeen  years  of  age,  or,  according  to  his  present  evidence, 

1  The  account  of  Sei'vetus's  examination  at  Vienne  will  be  found  in  the 
Nouveaux  Mimoires  d' Histoire,  de  Critique,  et  de  Literature,  vol.  ii. ;  at  the 
end  of  Mosheim's  Neue  Nachnchlen  ;  and  in  Chauff'epie's  Dictionary,  ai't. 
Servetus. 

2  The  lattei-  seems  an  anagram  of  Servct,  adopted,  perhaps,  as  more  con- 
formable to  the  French  idiom. 


SERVETUS'S  EXAMINATION  AT  VIENNE.  269 

fourteen  or  fifteen.  That  he  accompanied  Quintana  to  Bo- 
logna may,  however,  as  before  stated,  possibly  be  true.  This 
was  an  incident  in  his  life  which  he  was  so  far  from  having 
any  reason  to  conceal,  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  would  rather 
have  tended  to  establish  his  orthodoxy  ;  for  Quintana  was  one 
of  the  most  zealous  Roman  Catholics  of  his  time.  The  same 
desire  to  avoid  recognition  also  prompted  him  to  say  that  he 
was  a  native  of  Tudelle ;  for  he  had  called  himself  Villano- 
vanus  in  his  book  "  De  Trinitatis  Erroribus''  We  may 
trace  the  same  motive  in  his  avoiding  all  mention  of  having 
been  at  Basle,  where  he  had  passed  by  his  real  name,  and 
where  his  character  and  publications  were  but  too  notorious. 
The  time  which  he  passed  there  he  now  included  in  that 
which  he  spent  in  Quintana's  service.  On  the  other  hand  the 
account  which  he  gave  of  himself  after  his  coming  to  France 
is,  perhaps,  tolerably  correct.  He  had  then  changed  his 
name  to  Villeneuve,  and  thrown  off  the  character  of  Ser- 
vetus  ;  and  had  thus  no  longer  any  motive  for  concealment. 
This  part  of  his  life,  too,  might  be  easily  traced  by  his  French 
acquaintance.  It  should  be  added  that  in  this  examination 
he  acknowledged  having  written  the  following  works  :  the 
"  Syroporu7n  universa  Ratio''  the  "  A'pologetica  DisceptMio 
pro  Astrologia''  the  "  Apologia  pro  Symphoriano  Cam- 
pegio ;"  and  notes  on  Ptolemy's  Geography.  He  affirmed 
that  he  had  printed  no  other  books  of  his  own,  though  he  had 
corrected  many  written  by  others. 

If  the  answers  of  Servetus,  during  this  examination,  be  com- 
pared with  those  he  subsequently  made  before  the  council  of 
Geneva,  they  will  be  found  very  materially  to  differ.  The 
reason  why  the  latter  have  been  preferred  as  materials  for 
compiling  the  preceding  account  of  Servetus  is,  that  at  Geneva 
he  had  no  motive  for  concealing  the  truth,  as  he  had  at  Vienne. 
The  whole  of  his  previous  history  was  perfectly  well  known  to 
Calvin,  and  all  attempt  at  prevarication  would  have  been 
useless.  Besides  this,  there  were  other  circumstances  which 
led  him  to  speak  without  disguise  at  Geneva.  He  was  sup- 
ported by  a  powerful  faction  in  that  city,  nor  did  he  at  first 
imagine  that  Calvin  would  actually  venture  to  take  his  life  ;^ 
but  of  this  in  its  proper  place.  We  will  now  return  to  the 
course  of  the  narrative. 

1  Yet  a  recent  biographer  of  Calvin  (Audin,  torn,  ii.,  c.  xii.)  adopts  some 
particulars  from  the  depositions  at  Vienne,  which  lead  to  manifest  inconsist- 
encies, and  gives  others  which  he  can  only  have  derived  from  his  imagina- 
tion. 


270  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

.  Having  given  these  answers  respecting  his  early  life  to  the 
inquisitors,  Servetus  was  shown  two  printed  sheets  of  paper, 
bearing  the  title,  ''De  Baiotisino,  cap.  xvii.,"  with  manuscript 
notes  in  the  margin,^  some  of  which  he  was  asked  to  explain. 
Let  US  here  stop  for  a  moment,  to  pay  a  passing  tribute  to  the 
subtlety  of  the  Italian,  Ory.  We  have  seen  that  the  weak 
point  of  his  case  was  that  the  proof  of  it  depended  upon  hand- 
writing. Had  Servetus  been  abruptly  asked,  whether  the 
notes  produced  were  written  by  him,  he  would  most  probably 
have  denied  it ;  but  being  thus  thrown  off  his  guard,  he  was 
incautious  enough  to  give  some  explanations.  He  immediately 
perceived  his  error,  and  endeavored  to  retrieve  it  by  pretending 
to  doubt  whether  the  writing  were  really  his  :  however,  he 
made  a  sort  of  qualified  acknowledgment  of  it,  protesting,  at 
the  same  time,  that  if  any  thing  should  be  found  contrary  to 
the  faith,  he  submitted  it  to  the  decision  of  the  Holy  Mother 
Church,  from  which  he  had  never  wished  to  differ ;  adding, 
that  the  notes  had  been  written  lightly,  by  way  of  controversy, 
and  without  much  reflection.  It  seems  not  improbable  that 
Calvin  had  selected  that  part  of  Servetus's  notes  which  related 
to  baptism,  with  the  view  of  making  him  out  an  Anabaptist. 
On  the  following  day,  April  6th,  Servetus  was  again  exam- 
ined. On  this  occasion  the  letters  which  he  had  formerly 
written  to  Calvin  were  produced,  and  he  was  questioned  re- 
specting some  passages  in  them.  When  Servetus  saw  that 
this  correspondence  was  in  the  hands  of  the  inquisitors,  he 
burst  into  tears,  and  said,  "  Sirs,  I  will  tell  you  the  truth." 
But  this  was  only  the  preface  to  a  broad  and  clumsy  falsehood. 
He  asserted  that  the  letters  were  written  about  twenty-five 
years  ago,  when  he  was  in  Germany,  at  which  time  a  book 
was  published  there  by  a  certain  Spaniard  named  Servetus ; 
but  he  did  not  know  from  what  part  of  Spain  he  came,  nor 
where  he  lived  in  Germany,  except  that  he  had  heard  it  was 
at  Aganon  (Hagenau),  where  the  book  was  printed.  That  he 
read  the  book  in  Germany,  and  being  then  a  very  young  man, 
thought  the  author's  tenets  as  good,  or  better,  than  those  of 
others.  That  subsequently  he  came  to  France,  and  hearing 
Calvin  praised  for  his  learning,  wrote  to  him  out  of  curiosity, 

^  These  leaves  were  from  Calvin's  Institutes,  Dr.  P.  Henry  (iii.,  145, 
note)  says  that  Mosheim  has  misunderstood  this.  But  Mosheim  says  ex- 
pressly {Neue  Nachrichten,  p.  65)  that  the  leaves  were  from  Calvin's  book. 
It  has  been  stated  already  that  Servetus  had  sent  to  Calvin  a  copy  of  the 
Institutes,  with  MS.  notes.  According  to  Bayle  (Calvin,  Rem.  F.),  the  In- 
stitutes were  not  divided  into  books  before  the  edition  of  1558  ;  and  that  of 
1550.  the  next  previous  one,  was  only  divided  into  twenty-o:ie  c'laritcrs. 


SERVKTUS   IvSCAPiCS.  271 

and  without  being  acquainted  with  him,  begging  that  any  cor- 
respondence between  them  might  be  confidential,  and  by  way 
of  brotherly  correction.  That  Calvin  hereupon  charged  him 
with  being  Serve tus,  to  which  he  replied  that  though  he  was 
not  Servetus,  he  would  assume  his  person ;  not  caring,  he 
added,  what  Calvin  might  think  of  him,  but  wishing  only  for 
an  opportunity  of  discussion.  That  in  this  manner  the  corre- 
spondence was  kept  up  till  within  about  ten  years,  when  it 
became  angry  and  abusive. 

Servetus  could  have  hardly  believed  that  so  clumsy  a  story 
would  meet  with  any  credit ;  indeed  it  carries  a  contradiction 
on  the  face  of  it,  as  he  first  asserts  that  the  letters  were  written 
in  Germany,  and  then  in  France.  He  now  perceived  that 
the  matter  was  taking  a  serious  turn,  and  resolved  to  attempt 
his  escape.  The  indulgence  with  which  he  was  treated  in 
prison  favored  this  design ;  indeed  it  is  not  improbable,  as 
Servetus  deposed  in  answer  to  the  5th  interrogatory,  on  his 
first  examination  at  Geneva,  that  some  of  the  magistrates  at 
Vienne  may  have  connived  at  his  evasion.  He  had  many 
friends  there,  including  the  archbishop,  his  brother,  the  vi- 
bailli,  and  even  Montgiron  himself  A  garden  adjoined  his 
prison,  in  which  he  was  allowed  to  walk.  Hence  the  roof  of 
a  house  could  be  gained,  and  from  that  a  wall,  from  which  he 
could  descend  into  the  court  of  the  palace  ;  whence  it  would 
be  easy  to  reach  the  gate  of  the  town  and  the  bridge  over  the 
Rhone.  The  evening  after  his  second  examination,  Servetus 
reconnoitered  the  ground.  He  also  sent  his  servant  to  the 
monastery  of  St.  Peter,  to  demand  three  hundred  erowns 
which  were  due  to  him,  and  which  the  grand  prior  brought 
to  him  in  person.  He  was  thus  well  provided  with  money, 
for  none  of  his  property  had  been  taken  from  him.  Early  on 
the  following  morning,  the  7th  of  April,  Servetus  dressed  him- 
self completely ;  but  flinging  a  night-gown  over  his  clothes, 
and  drawing  a  velvet  cap  over  his  head,  pretended  a  call  of 
nature,  and  asked  the  jailer  for  the  key  of  the  garden.  De- 
ceived by  his  appearance,  the  jailer  made  no  difficulty  in  com- 
plying with  his  request,  and  went  without  suspicion  to  look 
after  his  vineyard.  Servetus  lost  no  time  in  making  use  of 
the  opportunity.  Depositing  his  gown  and  cap  under  a  tree, 
he  gained  the  court  of  the  palace,  which  he  passed  with  safety, 
and  was  soon  over  the  bridge.  His  flight  was  not  discovered 
for  some  hours  ;  when  an  alarm  was  given,  the  gates  closed, 
and  the  neighboring  houses  searched ;  but  it  was  too  late 
Servettjs  had  escaped. 


272  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Nevertheless,  the  trial  proceeded  as  if  he  had  been  present. 
It  was  now  proved  by  the  evidence  of  three  printers  in  Arnoul- 
let's  office,  that  the  "  Restitutio  Christianismi''  had  been 
printed  at  Vienne,  Extracts  were  made  of  the  heretical  doc- 
trines contained  in  it ;  but  the  civil  court  did  not  wait  for  the 
opinion  of  the  spiritual  tribunal  respecting  them  ;  which,  in- 
deed, was  not  given  till  six  months  afterward,  and  when  Ser- 
vetus  had  been  already  executed  at  Geneva.^  The  judgment 
of  the  former  court  was  pronounced  on  the  17th  of  June.  For 
his  heretical  doctrines,  violation  of  the  royal  ordinances,  and. 
escape  from  the  royal  prison,  Servetus  was  sentenced  to  pay  a 
fine  of  one  thousand  livres  tournois  to  the  dauphin  ;  to  be 
carried  in  a  cart,  together  with  his  books,  on  a  market-day, 
from  the  gate  of  the  Palais  Delphinal  through  the  principal 
streets  and  squares  to  the  market-place,  and  thence  to  the 
Charneve,  the  place  of  execution,  where  he  was  to  be  burned 
alive  by  a  slow  fire.  Meanwhile,  as  he  could  not  at  present 
be  captured,  the  last  part  of  this  sentence  was  to  be  executed 
on  his  effigy  ;  which  was  done  on  the  day  it  was  pronounced. 
ArnouUet,  who  had  been  apprehended,  was  discharged  on 
showing  that  he  had  been  deceived  by  Gueroult,  who  had 
represented  the  book  as  harmless.  The  latter  seems  to  have 
escaped  by  flight.  The  confiscated  property  of  Servetus  was 
so  considerable,  that  M.  Montgiron  begged  it  of  the  king  for 
his  son.* 

Besides  its  blasphemies,  the  ''Restitutio  Christianismi" 
contained  attacks  upon  the  Uomish  Church  as  strong  and 
bitter  as  any  thing  ever  uttered  by  Luther  or  Calvin.^  Arn- 
ouUet took  care  that  the  copies  remaining  in  France  should 
be  destroyed.  Those  at  Frankfort  were  burned  at  the  in- 
stance of  Calvin,  who  sent  a  letter  to  the  ministers  of  that 
town  by  a  messenger  who  could  point  out  the  bookseller  in 
whose  possession  they  were.*  At  Geneva,  Robert  Stephens 
sacrificed  all  the  copies  which  had  come  into  his  hands. 
Thus  out  of  an  edition  of  one  thousand  copies,  it  is  said  that 
six  only  were  preserved.^ 

I  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  149. 

a  P.  Henry,  iii.,  150  and  170. 

3  Specimens  are  given  by  P.  Henry,  in  vol.  iii.,  BeiL  iii 

*  See  Ep.  153. 

*  Mosheira,  Geschichte  Servets,  p.  343. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Servetas  arrives  at  Geneva — Is  arrested  and  indicted — His  Trial — Is  claimed 
by  the  French  Authorities — His  Insolence — Opinion  of  Bullinger,  Farel, 
and  others,  on  his  case — Brings  a  counter  Accusation  against  Calvin — 
The  Swiss  Churches  consulted — Their  Replies — Servetus  condemned 
and  executed — His   Character — General  Indignation   against   Calvin — 

•  Calvin's  Book  on  the  Punishment  of  Heretics — Grounds  of  his  Defense — 
Justified  by  Melancthon  and  others — Calvin  and  the  French  Inquisition — 
Inquiry  into  his  Motives — His  Defense  unsatisfactory — Replies  to  his 
Book. 

On  escaping  from  the  prison  of  Vienne,  the  first  design  of 
Servetus,  if  we  may  trust  his  depositions  at  Geneva,  was  to 
proceed  into  Spain.  Alarmed  by  the  pursuit  of  the  gens 
d'armes,  he  abandoned  this  plan,  and  resolved  to  make  his 
way  to  Naples  ;  where  he  hoped  to  find  subsistence  by  prac- 
ticing medicine  among  the  numerous  Spaniards  settled  in 
that  city.  Reasons  which  he  does  not  explain  induced  him 
to  linger  in  France  for  upward  of  three  months ;  and  when 
he  at  last  set  off  for  Italy,  he  chose  the  road  through  Geneva 
and  Switzerland.  Calvin,  however,  did  not  believe  this 
account,  and  suspected  that  this  time  had  been  passed  in 
Italy.^  In  his  examination  on  the  28th  of  August,  Servetus 
was  questioned  as  to  whether  he  did  not  last  come  from  Italy 
and  Venice ;  but  he  stoutly  denied  it,  and  affirmed  that  he 
had  never  been  at  the  latter  place  in  his  life.  Venice  appears 
to  have  been  at  that  time  the  favorite  seat  of  skepticism  and 
heresy.  We  learn  from  a  letter  of  Melancthon's  to  the 
Venetian  senate,  supposed  to  have  been  written  in  the  year 
1539,  that  the  work  of  Servetus,  "  De  Trinitatis  Erroribus,'' 
was  even  then  much  circulated  in  that  city.*  Hence,  prob- 
ably, the  origin  of  Calvin's  suspicions.  But  as  Servetus,  in 
his   trial  at  Geneva,   avowed  the   authorship  both  of  that 

1  See  Servetus's  Examinations  at  Geneva,  of  the  17th,  23d,  and  28th 
of  August,  in  Trechsel,  i.,  Beil.  iii.  In  a  letter  to  Sulzer  (Ep.  156),  Calvin 
says  :  "  He  (Servetus)  has  lately  caused  a  larger  volume  to  be  secretly 
printed  at  Vienne,  but  made  up  of  the  same  errors.  "When  the  affair  was 
discovered,  he  was  immediately  imprisoned,  but  contrived  to  escape,  I  know 
not  how,  and  rambled  in  Italy  for  nearly  four  months.'' — P.  Henry  (iii.  150, 
note)  here  accuses  Calvin  of  error,  and  makes  this  period  less  by  confound- 
ing the  date  of  Servetus's  escape  with  that  of  his  sentence  at  Vienne, 

2  See  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  36-38. 


274  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

work  and  of  the  *'  Restitutio  Christianismi''  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  he  could  have  benefited  his  cause  by  denying 
his  journey  to  Italy,  had  he  really  been  there  ;  or  why,  if  he 
had  actually  made  his  way  to  Venice,  he  should  have  been 
induced  to  travel  back  to  Geneva,  the  residence  of  the  man 
whom  he  knew  to  be  his  mortal  enemy,  in  the  short  space  of 
three  months. 

Whatever  may  be  the  truth  of  this  matter,  which  is  not 
very  important,  it  is  certain  that  Servetus  arrived  at  Geneva 
about  the  middle  of  July,  1553.  He  was  alone,  and  on  foot, 
and  took  up  his  lodging  at  a  small  inn  on  the  banks  of  the 
lake,  called  the  Auberge  de  la  Rose.  He  had  slept  the  pre- 
vious night  at  the  village  of  Louyset,  or  Le  Cuiset,  at  which 
place  he  had  arrived  from  Lalenove,  on  a  hired  horse. ^  His 
dress  and  manner  bespoke  something  more  than  a  foot  trav- 
eler, and  excited  the  attention  of  his  host.  He  was  well 
provided  with  money ;  for,  on  being  committed  to  prison,  he 
deposited  in  the  hands  of  the  jailer  ninety-seven  gold  crowns, 
besides  a  gold  chain  worth  twenty  crowns,  and  six  gold  rings. 
He  seems  to  have  affected  a  free  and  careless  manner,  and  to 
have  conversed  without  reserve.  His  host  asked  him  if  he 
was  married  ?  to  which  question  Servetus  returned  a  light 
answer,  savoring  rather  of  the  cavalier  than  of  the  learned 
doctor  and  would-be  Reformer.^  He  seems  to  have  relied  on 
his  person  being  unknown,  and  this  behavior  was  probably 
put  on  for  the  purpose  of  better  concealment.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  was  observed  to  enter  the  church  while  Calvin  was 
preaching.  After  staying  at  the  inn  about  a  month  he  talked 
of  proceeding  to  Zurich,  and  had  actually  hired  a  boat  to 
convey  him  by  the  lake  as  far  as  possible  in  that  direction ; 
when,  on  Sunday,  the  13th  of  August,  an  officer  of  police 
suddenly  appeared,  and  arrested  him  in  the  name  of  the 
council. 

The  manner  in  which  Servetus  was  discovered  is  unknown, 
but  it  has  been  supposed  that  he  was  recognized  in  the  church. 
It  seems  that  he  had  only  come  to  Geneva  with  the  view  of 
proceeding  farther  f  and  that  Grotius  was  in  error  in  saying 
that  he  went  thither  to  consult  Calvin  :  nor  is  there  much 
probability  in  the  supposition  of  Musculus,  that  he  wished 
to  avail  himself  of  the  ill-will  of  some  of  the  principal  citizens 

-     1  Examination  of  28th  of  August. 

2  "  On  troave  bien  assez  de  femmes  sans  se  marier." — Ibid. 

3  "  Clu'il  se  tenoit  cache  a  Geneve  afin  de  s'en  pouvoir  aller  sang  etre 
reconnu." — Examination  of  23d  of  August. 


SERVETUS  AERESTED  AT  GENEVA.  275 

toward  Calvin,  and  to  make  Geneva  a  center  for  disturbing 
other  churches.^  Calvin  avows  that  he  was  arrested  at  hi& 
instance.^ 

Servetus  was  confined  in  the  old  prison  near  St.  Peter's 
church.  According  to  the  laws  of  Geneva,  it  was  necessary 
that,  in  criminal  cases  of  this  description,  the  prosecutor  should 
also  be  imprisoned,  and  make  himself  responsible  with  his 
life  for  the  truth  of  his  accusation.  Nicholas  de  la  Fontaine, 
who  had  formerly  been  cook  to  M.  de  Fallals,  but  who  was 
now  a  student  in  theology,  and  Calvin's  secretary  was  induced 
to  undertake  this  office.  On  the  third  day,  however,  Nicholas 
was  dismissed,  Calvin's  brother,  Anthony,  having  become  bail 
for  him  ;  and  on  the  fourth,  at  the  demand  of  Colladon,  ad- 
vocate for  Nicholas,  both  he  and  his  surety  were  entirely 
discharged  from  all  responsibility.^ 

On  the  Monday  following  his  apprehension,  Servetus  was 
brought  before  the  court,  when  La  Fontaine  produced  thirty- 
eight  heads  of  accusation  against  him,  drawn  up  by  Calvin. 
In  these  he  was  charged  with  having  disturbed  the  German 
churches  by  his  heresies  for  four-and-twenty  years  ;  with 
having  published  his  books,  entitled,  "  De  Trinitatis  Error- 
ibics,''  and  "  Restitutio  Christianismi,'''  and  his  notes  on 
Ptolemy  and  on  the  Bible ;  and  also  with  having  escaped 
from  the  prison  of  Vienne.  The  rest  of  the  charges  turn 
chiefly  on  points  of  doctrinal  divinity  ;  but  in  the  eighth  he  is 
accused  of  maintaining  his  heresies  in  an  insulting  manner, 
not  only  against  the  ancient  Fathers  of  the  Church,  as  St. 
Ambrose,  St.  Augustin,  and  others,  but  also  against  modern 
doctors  ;  and  especially  with  calling  Melancthon,  "  a  man 
without  faith,  a  son  of  the  devil,  BeHal,  and  Satan."  But 
the  most  remarkable  of  these  articles  is  the  thirty-seventh, 
which  runs  thus  :  "  Item,  That  in  the  person  of  M.  Calvin, 
minister  of  God's  word  in  this  church  of  Geneva,  he  has  de- 
famed in  a  printed  book  the  doctrine  preached  in  it,  uttering 
all  the  insults  and  blasphemies  it  is  possible  to  invent."  In 
support  of  these  charges,  the  manuscripts  and  printed  books 
of  Servetus  were  handed  into  court. 

Servetus  did  not  deny  that  he  was  the  author  of  these  works. 
He  asserted  that  he  did  not  think  he  had  blasphemed  ;  but 

J  P.  Henry,  iii.,  15i>. 

»  "  At  length  having  come  hither  in  an  evil  hour,  one  of  the  syndics,  at 
my  instance,  ordered  him  to  be  imprisoned." — Calvin  to  Sulzer,  Ep.  156. 
Comnare  the  Refutatio  Serveii,  Opera,  viii.,  511,  A.,  Amst.  ed. 

3  Calvin  to  Fare!,  Ep.  152,  and  Examination  of  17th  of  August. 


276  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

that  if  his  blasphemies  were  pointed  out,  he  was  ready  to  re- 
tract them.  He  acknowledged  having  called  the  Trinity  a 
Cerberus ;  yet  he  professed  to  believe  in  that  doctrine,  but 
declared  that  he  interpreted  the  word  person  in  a  different 
sense  from  most  modern  expounders.  To  the  charge  of  having 
insulted  Calvin  he  answered  :  "  That  M.  Calvin  had  before 
abused  him  in  several  printed  books ;  that  he  had  replied  and 
shown  that  Calvin  was  wrong  in  some  passages ;  that  when 
the  said  Calvin  wrote  that  he  (Servetus)  was  intoxicated  with 
his  opinions,  he  had  retorted  the  charge,  and  affirmed  that 
Calvin  himself  was  often  wrong." 

On  the  following  day,  Tuesday,  August  the  15th,  the  court 
assembled  at  the  Eveche.  Among  the  judges  we  find  the 
names  of  Perrin  and  Vandel,  the  leaders  of  the  Patriot  party ; 
who  were  also  present  at  some  of  the  subsequent  examinations. 
The  same  charges  were  preferred  which  had  been  exhibited 
the  previous  day,  nor  are  there  any  material  variations  in  the 
answers  of  Servetus  ;  only  he  added  that  he  had  not  abused 
Melancthon  in  any  published  work.  He  also  affirmed  that 
Calvin  had  persecuted  him  in  such  a  manner  that  it  was  not 
his  fault  if  he  had  not  been  burnt  alive.  He  confessed  that 
he  was  Servetus. 

On  the  16th  and  17th  his  examination  was  renewed  on  the 
same  articles.  On  the  latter  day  the  copy  of  Calvin's  "  Insti- 
tutes," in  which  Servetus  had  made  his  notes,  was  handed 
into  court,  and  also  the  letter  which  he  had  written  some 
years  previously  to  Abel  Poupin,  and  which  has  been  already 
mentioned.^ 

After  this  Servetus  was  remanded  till  Monday,  the  21st  of 
August.  It  had  probably  been  discovered  that  Nicholas  de 
la  Fontaine  was  no  match  for  his  antagonist ;  for  on  the  day 
mentioned  Calvin  appeared  against  him  in  person,  supported 
by  the  other  ministers  of  Geneva.  The  examination  turned 
wholly  on  points  of  doctrine.  Calvin  refuted  the  opinions  of 
Servetus  from  Clement,  Justin,  Origen,  Tertullian,  and  other 
Fathers;  and  showed  from  Origen's  "Homilies"  that  Servetus 
was  wrong  in  asserting  that  the  term  "  Trinity"  had  not  been 
used  previously  to  the  council  of  Nice.     Arguments  were  en- 

1  This  letter  will  be  found  in  Mosheim's  Geschichte  Servets,  Beil.  415, 
and  in  the  Bibliotheque  Anglaise,  ii.,  130.  The  following  is  the  most  ob- 
noxious passage :  "Your  gospel  is  without  one  God,  without  true  faith,  with- 
out good  works.  For  one  God  you  have  a  three-headed  Cerberus  ;  for  true 
faith  a  fatal  dream;  and  good  works  you  call  empty  pictures.  The  faith 
of  Christ  is  to  you  a  mere  ineflBcient  pretense,  man  a  mere  log,  and  God 
the  chimera  of  a  will  that  is  not  free,"  &c. 


TRIAL  OF  SERVETUS.  277 

tered  into  respecting  the  nature  of  the  persons  of  the  Trinity. 
As  the  interrogation  proceeded  Servetus  demanded  books, 
which  he  was  allowed  to  have  at  his  own  expense,  pro- 
vided they  could  be  procured  at  Geneva  or  Lyons.  Calvin 
undertook  to  lend  him  TertuUian,  Irenseus,  St.  Ignatius, 
and  Polycarp.  He  was  also  to  be  furnished  with  ink  and 
paper. 

It  was  during  this  examination  that  Calvin  led  Servetus 
to  expose  his  pantheistic  principles,  and  even  pushed  him  to 
declare  his  opinion  that  the  divmity  resided  not  only  in  stocks 
and  stones,  but  in  the  very  devils  themselves.^  It  is  remark- 
able, however,  that  these  words  are  not  to  be  found  in  the 
records  of  the  trial :  Dr.  Henry  conjectures  that  the  clerk 
may  have  omitted  them  out  of  moral  feeling  ! '  The  pan- 
theistic notions  of  Servetus  were  founded  on  the  apom  that 
there  can  be  no  action  without  contact.  These  views  he  de- 
veloped in  a  paper  which  he  afterward  drew  up  and  forwarded 
to  Calvin.^  Servetus  v/as  really  a  man  of  talent ;  but  he 
failed,  as  every  man  will  fail,  in  the  vain  attempt  to  apply 
philosophy  to  religion. 

Proofs  sought  far  and  wide  were  adduced  against  him.  The 
judgment  of  CEcolampadius,  pronounced  twenty-three  years 
previously,  was  brought  forward ;  and  some  passages  from  the 
"  Loci  Theologici''  of  Melancthon,  in  which  he  is  styled  "  a 
fanatic,"  "  a  cunning  and  impious  man."  He  was  also  charged 
with  the  passage  in  his  notes  on  Ptolemy,  which  contradicted 
Moses'  account  of  the  Holy  Land,  but  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  had  suppressed  in  his  second  edition."*  Servetus  seems 
justified  in  treating  this  charge  with  contempt.  He  wiped 
his  mouth,  and  said,  "  Let  us  go  on  ;"  which  highly  offended 
Calvin.  Other  heads  of  accusation  were,  that  he  had  rejected 
infant  baptism ;  that  he  had  called  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
a  dream  of  St.  Augustin ;  and  that  he  had  denied  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul.  The  first  of  these  charges  was  probably 
the  most  dangerous,  as  the  Anabaptists  were  every  where  re- 
garded with  dread  and  suspicion,  as  the  enemies  of  civil  order. 
The  last  accusation,  that  he  held  the  soul  to  be  mortal,  he 

1  See  Calvin's  letter  to  Farel,  Ep.  152,  and  the  Refutatio  Serveti,  Opera, 
viii.,  522,  B.  2  Vol.  iii.,  157. 

3  See  Mosheim's  Neue  Nachrichten,  p.  102. 

*  The  following  seems  to  have  been  the  objectionable  pait :  "But  know, 
excellent  reader,  that  such  good  qualities  have  been  ascribed  to  this  country 
wrongfully,  or  out  of  pure  boasting,  since  the  experience  of  merchants  and 
travelers  shows  it  to  be  uncultivated,  sterile,  and  altogether  disagreeable." 
— See  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Servets,  B.  ii.,  note  4. 


278  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

rejected  with  all  the  marks  of  horror  and  aversion  ;^  nor  does 
it  appear  to  have  had  any  foundation.  The  second  of  these 
charges  he  acknowledged  and  defended,  maintaining  that  it 
was  the  doctrine  of  the  ancient  Church.  On  this  point  a 
warm  dispute  ensued  between  him  and  Calvin,  during  which 
he  displayed  so  much  insolence,  that  Calvin  and  the  rest  of 
the  clergy  were  obliged  to  retire.  Calvin  affirms,  that  in  this 
discussion  his  adversary  showed  an  almost  total  ignorance  of 
Greek  f  but,  though  he  may  have  made  some  slip  which  gave 
rise  to  this  imputation,  it  can  hardly  be  believed  that  Serve- 
tus,  who  was  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  time,  who 
had  edited  Ptolemy,  and  written  his  book  on  "  Syrups,"  was 
really  ignorant  of  that  language.  In  the  latter  work,  he 
adduces  numerous  passages  from  Galen,  interpreting  many, 
and  correcting  some ;  and  in  his  edition  of  Ptolemy,  frequently 
amends  the  Latin  version  of  Pirckheimer.^ 

The  severity  of  Servetus's  imprisonment  was  now  increased ; 
and  from  some  of  the  complaints  which  he  afterward  address- 
ed to  the  council,"*  it  would  seem  to  have  been  carried  to  a 
cruel  extent.  He  was  not  allowed  the  means  of  common 
cleanliness.  Meanwhile  Calvin  declaimed  against  him  from 
the  pulpit,  in  order  to  acquaint  the  people  with  his  doctrines, 
and  incite  them  against  him,  and  thus  to  counteract  any  efforts 
of  the  Libertine  party  in  his  favor. ^ 

The  case  was  now  handed  over  to  the  procureur-genei'al, 
and  on  the  23d  of  August,  Servetus  was  examined  by  that 
officer.  The  interrogations  chiefly  turned  on  his  former  course 
of  life  :  but  as  his  answers  have  for  the  most  part,  been  em- 
bodied in  the  preceding  narrative,  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat 
them.  On  the  24th,  he  presented  a  paper  to  the  council,  in 
which  he  demanded  his  release,  and  stated,  1st,  that  it  was 
a  novel  proceeding,  unknown  to  the  Apostles  and  the  ancient 
Church,  to  subject  a  man  to  a  criminal  prosecution  for  points 
of  doctrine.  2d,  that  he  had  been  guilty  of  no  sedition  or 
disturbance  in  the  territory  of  Geneva ;  that  the  questions  he 
treated  were  of  a  difficult  nature,  and  addressed  only  to  the 
small  body  of  the  learned ;  and  that  he  had  always  condemned 
the  conduct  of  the  Anabaptists  in  opposing  the  magistrates. 
3d,  that  as  he  was  a  foreigner,  unacquainted  with  the  customs 

1  See  his  letter  to  the  council,  22d  of  September,  Bibliotheque  Anglaise 
ii.,  148. 

2  "He  could  no  more  read  Greek  than  a  boy  learning  his  A.  B,  C." — 
Refutatio  Serveti,  Opera,  viii.,  523,  A. 

3  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Servets,  ii.,  $  xxxvii. 

*  Bihliotheqne  Anglaise,  ii.,  146  and  152.  ^  p.  Henry,  iii.,  150 


TRIAL  OF  SERVETUS.  279 

of  the  country  and  the  practice  of  the  courts  of  law,  he  re- 
quested to  be  allowed  an  advocate  to  conduct  his  cause./ 

It  must  be  owned  that  these  representations  seem  to  carry 
great  weight  with  them.  It  is  difficult  to  see  on  what  prin- 
ciple the  Genevese  assumed  the  right  of  trying  a  man  who 
was  not  a  citizen,  nor  even  a  resident,  but  merely  a  traveler 
casually  passing  through  their  town  ;  and  whose  offense,  even 
if  they  could  justly  establish  a  tribunal  for  the  trial  of  heresy, 
was  at  least  not  committed  within  their  territories.  Calvin 
seems  here  to  have  claimed  a  jurisdiction  as  extensive  as  that 
of  the  Pope.  The  unhappy  instance  of  Joan  Bocher  in  En- 
gland,, and  even  the  trial  of  Servetus  by  the  inquisition  of 
Vienne,  are  at  least  in  some  degree  justified  by  the  offense 
having  been  committed  against  the  laws  of  those  countries, 
provided  for  such  cases.  But  how  could  Servetus  be  made 
amenable  to  any  statutes  of  Geneva,  for  having  published  cer- 
tain books  at  Hagenau  and  Vienne  ?  The  only  head  of  accu- 
sation which  would  seem  to  make  him  amenable  to  the  laws 
of  Geneva  is  that  in  which  he  is  charged  with  having  defamed 
Calvin,  and  the  Genevese  church.  But  this  could  hardly 
have  been  capital ;  nor  have  his  judges  ventured  to  recapitu- 
late it  in  his  sentence.^ 

But  the  most  unjust  and  barbarous  part  of  these  proceed- 
ings was  the  denying  Servetus  the  benefit  of  counsel.  When 
the  court  next  met,  on  the  28th  of  August,  a  *i  Representa- 
tion and  Articles"  were  given  in,  drawn  up  in  the  hand- writ- 
ing of  one  of  Calvin's  copyists.  The  former  of  these  papers 
begins  by  saying  :  "  That  it  was  quite  evident  that  Servetus 
had  not  replied  satisfactorily  to  the  questions  put  to  him,  and 
had  done  nothing  but  lie,  vary,  and  tergiversate ;  making  a 
mockery  of  God  and  his  word,  by  quoting,  corrupting,  and 
twisting  from  their  proper  sense,  passages  from  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  in  order  to  conceal  his  blasphemies,  and  escape 
punishment."  Then,  after  adducing  instances  in  support  of 
these  charges,  there  follows  a  long  argument  to  show  that 
heresy  was  made  capital  by  the  Roman  emperors,  and  that 
the  punishment  of  death  is  not  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the 
New  Testament.  In  reply  to  Servetus's  petition,  it  is  insist- 
ed that  he  should  not  be  permitted  to  have  counsel.  "  For 
who,  it  is  asked,  is  he  who  could  or  would  assist  him  in  such 
impudent  lies,  and  horrible  statements  1  not  to  mention  that 

1  This  paper  was  signed  "M.  Servetus,  eu  sa  cause  propre." — See  Bib- 
liothiqice  Anglaise,  ii.,  135,  et  seq. 

2  See  the  sentence  in  P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  iii.,  p.  75,  et  seq. 


280  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

it  is  forbidden  by  law,  and  was  never  yet  seen,  that  such  sub 
orners  should  have  the  benefit  of  an  advocate.  Beside,  there 
is  not  a  single  grain  of  innocence  apparent  to  justify  the  inter- 
vention of  a  counsel."  Strange  reasoning  !  which  shows  that 
Calvin  had  long  since  prejudged  his  unhappy  victim  :  which 
would  prove  that  the  more  a  man  needs  the  assistance  of  an 
advocate  the  less  he  is  entitled  to  it  I  As  if  there  might  not 
be  cases  in  which  a  counsel  could  dissipate  and  chase  away 
those  mists  of  seeming  guilt  which  may  sometimes  envelop 
and  obscure  men  the  most  innocent,  and  causes  the  most  just ! 

The  conduct  of  the  prisoner  seemed  now  much  altered. 
He  declared  his  readiness  to  die,  and  loaded  Calvin  with 
abuse,  calling  him  Simon  Magus,  cacodsemon,  an  impostor,  a 
sycophant,  &c.  Servetus  seems  to  have  applied  the  first  of 
these  names  to  Calvin  on  account  of  his  doctrine  of  predestin- 
ation.^    The  case  may  now  be  almost  regarded  as  closed. 

On  the  31st  of  August  the  viguier,  or  commandant  of  the 
royal  palace  at  Vienne,  arrived  at  Geneva,  bearing  a  letter 
signed  by  Chassalis,  greffier,  on  behalf  of  the  vi-bailli  and  pro- 
cureur  of  Vienne,  in  which  he  thanked  the  magistrates  of 
Geneva  for  having  informed  them  of  the  detention  of  Serve- 
tus, and  begged  that  he  might  be  sent  bact  with  their  officer, 
in  order  that  their  sentence  upon  him  might  be  carried  into 
execution.  He  added  that  they  would  do  the  like  by  them  in 
a  similar  case,  but  declined  sending  their  proceedings  against 
Servetus,  as  they  could  not  allow  any  other  judgment  to  be 
passed  upon  him. 

It  appears,  therefore,  from  this  letter,  that  the  tribunal  of 
Vienne  had  not  only  been  informed  of  the  capture  of  Servetus, 
but  had  also  been  requested  to  forward  their  proceedings,  in 
order  to  found  fresh  charges  against  him.  And  though  they 
did  not  comply  with  this  request,  yet  they  forwarded  a  dupli- 
cate of  their  sentence  against  the  prisoner.^ 

The  viguier  was  brought  into  the  presence  of  Servetus,  and 
the  latter  was  asked  whether  he  knew  him  ?  To  which  he 
replied  in  the  affirmative,  adding  that  he  had  been  two  days 
in  his  custody.     The  viguier  also  recognized  his  former  pris- 

1  "  The  assertion  of  Simon  Magus,  who  is  mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  and  called  by  ecclesiastical  historians  the  first  Christian  heretic, 
that '  Men  are  saved  according  to  his  grace,  and  not  according  to  just  works,' 
contains  in  it  the  essence  of  Calvinism." — Tomline's  Refutation  of  Calvin- 
ism, ch.  viii.,  p.  571.  For  more  on  the  same  subject  see  that  work,  p.  515, 
526. 

2  See  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  Beil.  iii.  Note  on  Examination  of  1st  of  Sep' 
tember. 


SERVETUS  CLAIMED  BY  THE   FRENCH.  281 

oner.  Some  questions  were  pat  to  him  respecting  his  appre- 
hension at  Vienne,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  escaped  from 
prison.  He  again  ascribed  his  prosecution  there  to  the  letter 
which  Trie  had  written  at  the  instance  of  Calvin.  Being 
asked  whether  he  would  return  with  the  officer  to  Vienne,  or 
remain  at  Geneva,  he  flung  himself  on  the  ground,  and  beg- 
ged with  tears  to  be  judged  by  the  Genevese  council.  He 
then  confessed  his  sorrow  and  repentance  that  he,  who  had  so 
often  written  against  the  mass,  should  have  conformed  to  it 
while  living  at  Vienne.^  The  viguier  returned  with  a  certifi- 
cate under  the  hand  of  Servetus,  that  he  had  escaped  without 
the  knowledge  of  his  jailor. 

On  the  1st  of  September  Calvin,  accompanied  by  the  other 
ministers,  visited  Servetus  in  his  dungeon,  bringing  with  him 
a  paper  containing  the  heretical  passages  in  his  works,  which 
he  was  desired  to  retract.  Servetus,  however,  declined  to 
answer  in  prison,  as  being  an  unfit  place  for  such  a  disputa- 
tion, for  which  he  also  said  that  he  was  disqualified  by  anxiety 
of  mind.  A  discussion  ensued  on  this  point,  and  the  council 
at  length  determined  that,  to  prevent  all  ebullition  of  feeling, 
the  dispute  should  be  carried  on  in  writing  ;  that  Calvin 
should  put  down  in  Latin,  in  a  compendious  form,  the  errors 
of  Servetus  ;  that  the  latter  should  give  in  his  answers,  with 
leave  to  amend  them  ;  and  that  when  these  papers  were 
ready,  they  should  be  submitted  to  the  Swiss  churches  for 
their  decision.^  At  this  interview  Servetus  was  desired  to 
name  those  who  were  indebted  to  him  in  several  parts  of 
France  ;  which,  with  a  proper  feeling,  he  refused  to  do,  on 
the  ground  that  it  might  lead  to  the  confiscation  of  their 
property. 

The  proceedings  against  Servetus  were  now  suspended  for 
a  fortnight,  which  Calvin  employed  in  preparing  his  paper. 
At  the  next  examination,  on  the  15th  of  September,  Servetus 
presented  a  memorial  to  the  council,  in  which  he  complained 
of  this  delay,  and  of  the  filthy  and  unwholesome  state  of  his 
prison.^  He  also  begged  that  his  case  should  be  referred  to 
the  council  of  Two  Hundred.  This  last  demand  could  not  be 
entertained,  as  Ami  Perrin,  who,  it  was  suspected,  wished  to 
make  Servetus  an  instrument  for  overthrowing  Calvin,  had 
the  majority  of  voices  in  that  assembly.''     In  the  ordinary 

-  P.  Henry,  iii.,  170.  »  lUd.,  iii.,  171. 

'  "  Les  poulx  me  mangent  tout  vif,  raes  chausses  sont  descirees,  et  n  'ay 
de  quoy  manger,  ne  perpoint,  ne  chemise,  que  une  mechante." — Bibliothiquf 
Ans^laise,  ii.,  146.  *  P.  Henry,  iii.,  172. 


.282  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

council  Calvin  was  predominant ;  and  he  was  res(Jved  to 
keep  the  case  in  their  hands. 

Calvin's  paper  consisted  of  thirty-eight  articles,  containing 
heretical  and  blasphemous  propositions,  extracted  from  the 
work  of  Servetus.  The  most  important  were  those  contain- 
ing blasphemies  against  our  Saviour  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
the  rejection  of  infant  baptism.^  After  Servetus  had  made 
a  short  answer,  Calvin  drew  up  his  "Refutation,"  which  was 
subscribed  by  himself  and  the  rest  of  the  Genevese  ministers. 
The  replies  of  Servetus  to  this  document  are  very  insolent, 
and  seem  almost  like  the  productions  of  a  madman.  He  re- 
peatedly gives  Calvin  the  lie.  In  one  he  says  :  "  Deny  your- 
self to  be  a  homicide,  and  I  will  prove  it  by  your  acts.  You 
dare  not  say  that  you  are  not  Simon  Magus.  Who,  there- 
fore, can  trust  in  you,  as  in  a  good  tree  ?  In  so  just  a  cause 
my  constancy  is  unshaken,  and  I  fear  not  death."  Again : 
"  Whosoever  is  not  a  Simon  Magus  is  considered  a  Pelagian 
by  Calvin.  All,  therefore,  who  have  existed  within  the  pale 
of  Christianity  are  condemned  by  him :  the  apostles,  their 
disciples,  the  fathers  of  the  ancient  Church,  and  all  the  rest. 
For  no  one  ever  thoroughly  abolished  free-will  except  Simon 
Magus."  From  a  letter  which  Servetus  addressed  to  the 
council,^  it  appears  that  he  wrote  these  answers  on  Calvin's 
own  paper,  for  which  he  naively  apologizes  on  the  ground  that 
there  were  many  little  words  (such,  for  example,  as  mentiris, 
&c.),  which  would  not  be  otherwise  understood  ;  and  he  hopes 
that  Calvin  will  not  be  offended,  as  there  would  have  been  an 
inextricable  confusion  had  he  not  done  so  I 

On  the  21st  of  September,  this  paper,  with  the  answers, 
was  ready  to  be  submitted  to  the  Swiss  churches.  Calvin  was 
so  far  from  having  advised  this  step,  that,  as  appears  from  a 
letter  to  BuUinger,  he  had  actually  protested  against  it.  He 
seems  to  have  considered  it  as  derogatory  to  his  authority,  and 
complains  that  he  now  stood  in  such  a  situation  with  the  coun- 
cil that  whatever  he  said  was  regarded  with  suspicion ;  so  that 
if  he  asserted  that  the  sun  shone  at  mid-day,  they  would  im- 
mediately begin  to  doubt.^     Yet  this  letter  is  hardly  consist* 

1  These  articles,  together  with  Servetus's  answers,  will  be  found  at  tho 
end  of  Calvin's  Refutatio  Serveti,  Opera,  viii.,  523,  et  seq.,  Amst.  ed. 

2  Mosheim,  Geschiclite  Serveis,  p.  418. 

^  "  Our  council  will  shortly  send  the  dogmas  of  Servetus  to  you,  to  learn 
your  opinion  of  them.  I  protested  agahmt  their  giving  you  this  trouble  ; 
but  they  had  arrived  at  such  a  pitch  of  madness  and  fury,  that  they  are 
suspicious  of  all  that  I  say;  so  that  if  I  should  affirm  at  mid-day  that  the 
sun  shone,  they  would  immediately  begin  to  doubt." — Calvin  to  BuUinger, 
Sept.  7th,  1553,     MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  9.5. 


OPINIONS  ON  THE  CASE  OF  SERVETUS.  283 

ent  with  a  passage  in  Calvin's  tract  against  Servetus,  in  which 
he  asserts  that  he  willingly  complied  with  a  proposition  of  the 
latter  to  appeal  to  other  churches ;  ^  nor  is  this  the  only  in- 
stance in  which  we  find  a  discrepancy  between  his  correspond- 
ence and  the  work  just  referred  to.  Calvin,  therefore,  did  not 
want  any  confirmation  of  his  opinion  on  the  case,  though  the 
council  did.  He  had,  however,  acquainted  Bullinger  with 
the  whole  matter  ;  and  he  it  was  who  undertook  to  obtain  a 
unanimous  opinion  from  the  churches.  Bullinger  espoused 
Calvin's  views  in  this  affair  more  warmly  than  any  other  of 
the  ministers ;  always  excepting  Calvin's  friends  and  fellow- 
countrymen,  Beza  and  Farel.  He  recommended  the  capital 
punishment  of  Servetus  in  a  letter  to  Beza  dated  on  the  30th 
of  August ;  when,  considering  the  want  of  rapid  communica- 
tion in  those  days,  he 'could  have  heard  but  few  particulars 
of  the  trial.  In  this  letter  he  said  :  "  But  what  is  your  most 
honorable  senate  of  Geneva  going  to  do  with  that  blasphe- 
mous wretch  Servetus  ?  If  they  are  wise,  and  do  their  duty, 
they  will  put  him  to  death,  that  all  the  world  may  perceive 
that  Geneva  desires  the  glory  of  Christ  to  be  maintained 
inviolate."^ 

But  of  all  Calvin's  correspondents  Farel  displayed  the 
greatest  violence  on  this  occasion.  Calvin  had  written  to 
him  on  the  20th  of  August,  to  inform  him  of  Servetus's  cap- 
ture, and  of  the  proceedings  which  had  been  instituted  against 
him ;  and  in  this  letter,  though  he  hoped  that  the  Spaniard 
would  be  put  to  death,  he  at  the  same  time  expressed  a  de- 
sire that  the  atrocity  of  the  punishment  should  be' mitigated. 
Farel,  in  reply,  says  :  "In  desiring  a  mitigation  of  his  pun- 
ishment you  act  the  part  of  a  friend  toward  a  man  who  has 
been  your  greatest  enemy.  But  I  beseech  you  so  to  bear 
yourself  that  none  shall  rashly  dare  hereafter  to  promulgate 
new  doctrines,  and  throw  all  into  confusion,  as  Servetus  has 
so  long  done."^  An  atrocious  passage  from  a  man  calling 
himself  a  minister  of  Christ  I  and  remarkable  likewise  as 
pointing  to  the  private  enmity  between  Calvin  and  Servetus, 
lor  which  Farel  here  all  but  exhorts  him  to  take  vengeance. 
Nor  can  we  dismiss  Calvin's  letter  just  quoted  without  ob- 

^  "And  when  he  appealed  to  other  churches,  I  xcillingly  acceded  to  this 
condition." — Refutatio  Serveti,  Opera,  viii.,  523,  B. 

2  See  Original  Letters,  published  by  the  Parker  Society,  Part  ii.,  p.  742 
The  editor  does  not  explain  why  Bullinger,  writing  to  Beza,  calls  the  sen- 
ate (or  council)  of  Geneva,  his  senate.  Beza  was  at  that  time  living  at 
Lausanne  under  the  government  of  Berne. 

'  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  155. 


284  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

serving  that  it  affords  another  instance  of  discrepancy  be- 
tween his  correspondence  and  the  hook  he  pubHshed  against 
Servetus  :  for  in  the  ''  Refutatid"  he  remarks  that  he  did  not 
bear  so  mortal  an.  enmity  toward  Servetus,  but  that  he  might 
have  escaped  with  his  Hfe  had  he  shown  any  symptoms  of 
modesty.' 

All  the  churches,  however,  were  not  so  favorably  disposed 
toward  Calvin's  view  of  the  case  as  that  of  Zurich,  through 
its  pastor  Bullinger.  That  of  Basle  in  particular,  of  which 
Sulzer  was  then  the  chief  minister,  Calvin  suspected,  might 
return  an  answer  not  quite  in  accordance  with  his  wishes. 
He  was  in  bad  odor  in  that  city,  where  Castellio  was  resid- 
ing ;  and  he  therefore  got  some  of  his  friends  to  use  their  in- 
fluence with  Sulzer,  in  order  to  obtain  such  a  verdict  as  he 
wished.  At  the  instance  of  Bullinger,  John  Haller,  the  min- 
ister of  Berne,  wrote  to  Sulzer  on  the  subject,  but  could 
obtain  no  answer.'^  Calvin  himself  addressed  a  long  and 
labored  letter  to  him,  in  which,  after  stating  that  impiety  had 
reached  such  a  pitch  as  to  demand  the  interference  of  the 
secular  arm,  though  care  should  be  taken  to  avoid  imitating 
the  rabid  fury  of  the  Papists,  he  places  the  case  of  Servetus 
on  three  grounds  :  first,  the  enormous  errors  and  detestable 
blasphemies  by  which  he  had  sought  to  corrupt  religion,  and 
destroy  piety  ;  secondly,  the  obstinacy  with  which  he  had  be- 
haved, and  the  diabolical  pride  with  which  he  had  rejected 
all  admonitions ;  and  thirdly,  the  haughtiness  with  which  he 
still  continued  to  assert  his  abominations.  And  in  order  to 
stimulate  "the  ministers  of  Basle  still  more  against  him,  he 
mentioned  that  Servetus  had  not  hesitated  to  assert  that 
CEcolampadius  and  Capito,  the  former  ministers  of  that  city, 
had  partaken  in  his  opinions.^  In  fact  Servetus  had  affirm- 
ed, in  his  examination  of  the  23d  of  August,  that  Capito  had 

*  Refutatio,  Sec,  Opera,  viii.,  517,  A.,  Amst.  ed.  The  exact  expression 
used  by  Calvin  in  his  letter  to  Farel,  is  :  "I  hope  (spero)  the  sentence  will 
at  least  be  capital;  but  desire  the  atrocity  of  the  punishment  to  be  abated." 
— Ep.  152.  Yet  in  the  face  of  this,  and  of  Calvin's  former  letter  to  Farel, 
in  1546  (for  which  see  the  preceding  chapter),  Dr.  Henry  affirms  (iii.,  153) 
that  he  had  no  intention  to  put  Servetus  to  death !  To  he  sure,  in  the  fol- 
lowing page  he  translates  the  word  spero,  in  the  passage  just  quoted,  by 
think  [er  meme  Servet  werde  am  Leben  gestraft  werden).  But  the  context 
will  not  allow  us  to  take  spero  here  in  any  other  than  its  ordinary  sense  of 
hoping.  And,  indeed.  Dr.  Henry  seems  to  have  thought  so  himself;  for, 
he  adds,  by  way  of  comment  on  Calvin's  woi'ds  :  "  Characteristisch,  er 
muss  in  der  Hitze  gleich  sein  Feuer  von  sich  werfen;"  a  remark  that 
would  have  no  meaning  had  Calvin  only  said,  '^  I  expect  that  Servetus  will 
be  capitally  condemned." 

3  Mosheim,  Neue  Nachrichten,  p.  78. 

'  Calvin  to  Sulzer,  Ep.  156. 


SERVETUS  ACCUSES  CALVIN.  285 

assented  to  his  doctrines,  and,  at  first,  CEcolampadius  also  ; 
but  that  the  latter  had  subsequently  changed  his  opinion. 
Bucer,  he  said,  had  always  been  against  him ;  and  he  had 
consulted  only  these  three. 

Meanwhile  Servetus  made  a  last  efibrt  to  procure  his  liber- 
ation, and  endeavored  to  turn  the  tables  upon  Calvin  by  ad-  , 
dressing  a  memorial  to  the  council,  in  which  he  denounced 
him  as  a  false  accuser,  a  persecutor,  and  a  heretic ;  and  de- 
manded that  he  should  be  imprisoned,  and  made  subject  to  the 
pcuna  talionis  if  his  accusation  proved  unfounded.^  It  was 
accompanied  with  another,  in  which  he  requested  that  Calvin 
should  be  interrogated  as  to  the  share  he  had  had  in  procuring 
his  imprisonment  and  trial  at  Vienne.  He  likewise  required 
that  Calvin's  estate  should  be  handed  over  to  him  as  a  com- 
pensation for  that  which  he  had  lost  by  his  means.  The 
council  refused  to  receive  these  papers,  or  to  grant  an  audi- 
ence, as  Servetus  had  requested.  On  the  10th  of  October  he 
addressed  another  letter  to  the  council,  in  which  he  complained 
bitterly  of  the  miseries  which  he  suffered  in  prison  ;  but  this 
was  also  disregarded. 

The  council  of  Geneva  had  consulted  the  magistrates,  as 
well  as  the  churches,  of  Zurich,  Berne,  Basle,  and  SchafP 
hausen,  on  the  case  of  Servetus.  They  all  replied  that  they 
had  referred  the  matter  to  their  clergy  ;  but  the  magistrates 
of  Zurich  and  Berne  added,  on  their  own  parts,  a  few  words, 
in  which  they  exhorted  the  Genevese  council  to  firmness  and 
severity.  We  learn  from  a  letter  of  Haller's  to  Bulhnger, 
dated  on  the  19th  of  October,  1553,  that  by  command  of  the 
council  of  Berne,  he  had  laid  before  them,  in  separate  proposi- 
tions, some  of  the  chief  errors  of  Servetus ;  at  which  they 
showed  so  much  indignation  that,  had  he  been  a  prisoner  of 
theirs,  he  doubted  not  but  they  would  have  burned  him.^ 
Calvin  also  says,  in  a  letter  to  Farel,'^  that  the  Genevese 
council  had  been  much  stimulated  by  the  letter  from  that  of 
Berne.  Yet  it  does  not  appear  to  have  contained  any  direct 
verdict  of  death."* 

1  This  paper  concluded  as  follows  :  "  Je  vous  demande  justice,  Messeig- 
neurs,  justice,  justice,  justice  !  Faict  en  vos  prisons  de  Geneve,  le  22  de 
Septembre,  1553.  Michael  Servetus,  en  sa  cause  propre." — P.  Henry,  iii,, 
Beil.  iii.,  71,  et  seq. 

2  See  Mosheim,  Neue  Nachrichten,  p.  78.  3  gp,  jgl. 

*  "  Les  magistrats  de  Berne  manderent  aussi  qu'ils  avoient  consultes 
leurs  theologiens,  et  prierent  le  conseil  de  Geneve  d'empecher  le  progi'es 
lies  erreurs.  Vous  prions,  disent-ils,  comme  ne  doutons  j)oint  a  ce  etre  en- 
clins,  de  toujours  tenir  main  que  les  erreurs  et  sectes,  comme  lesdites  sont, 
DU  semblablos,  ne  soient  semees  en  I'Eglise  de  Jesus  Christ,  nostre  seul 


286  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

But  in  such  a  matter  the  opinion  of  the  churches  is  more 
important.  Their  answers  were  received  in  the  course  of  Oc- 
tober ;  but  though  they  condemned  the  heresies  and  blasphe- 
mies of  Servetus  in  the  strongest  possible  terms,  their  senti- 
ments as  to  his  punishment  were  expressed  in  the  most  cau- 
tious and  guarded  language,  and  which  would  admit  the  in- 
terpretation of  perpetual  imprisonment  as  well  as  that  of  death. 
The  letter  from  Zurich,  of  which  that  from  Schaffhausen  was 
little  more  than  an  echo,  was,  in  the  opinion  of  Calvin  him- 
self,^ the  most  severe  of  all ;  for  which  reason  as  well  as  be- 
cause it  is  selected  by  himself  as  a  specimen  of  the  rest,  in  his 
tract  against  Servetus,  that  part  of  it  which  relates  to  the 
mode  of  punishment  is  subjoined.  "  In  what  manner,"  say 
the  ministers  of  Zurich,  "  your  honorable  council  should  coerce 
a  man  who  revives  heresies  long  ago  refuted  and  condemned 
by  the  church  on  the  authority  of  Scripture,  who  impugns  the 
lirm  and  primary  principles  of  our  faith,  and  in  so  doing  in- 
sults both  God  and  his  saints,  we  leave  it  to  your  prudence  to 
consider."  Then,  after  adverting  to  his  work,  "  On  the  Errors 
of  the  Trinity,"  and  his  "Restitution  of  Christianity,"  they 
proceed  to  say  :  "  We  think  much  faith  and  diligence  are 
needful  to  stem  this  evil,  especially  as  our  churches  are  in  bad 
repute  among  foreigners,  as  heretical,  and  favorers  of  heretics. 
But  now  the  holy  providence  of  God  hath  offered  you  an  op- 
portunity of  purging  both  yourselves  and  us  from  so  odious  a 
suspicion,  provided  you  be  vigilant,  and  take  due  care  that 
the  contagion  of  this  poison  spread  no  farther  by  means  of 
this  man,  as  we  doubt  not  you  will.  May  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  add  wisdom  and  fortitude  to  your  piety,  and  put  you 
into  the  right  way  of  performing  His  will,  to  the  glory  of  His 
name,  and  to  the  preservation  of  the  true  faith,  and  of  the 
church."" 

Minus  Celsus,  whose  work  against  the  putting  of  heretics 
to  death,  was  published  in  the  year  1577,  declares  that  he  had 
read  the  letters  of  the  Swiss  churches  attentively,  and  that  he 
could  not  find  a  single  word  about  shedding  Servetus's  blood.^ 
De  la  Roche,  Mosheim,  and  others,  have  subsequently  ex- 
pressed the  same  opinion ;  and  even  Haller,  the  minister  of 

Sauveur,  et  par  ce  garderez  de  trouble  et  adversite,  et  sa  gloire  avancerez 
et  augmenterez." — Biblioth^que  Anglaise,  ii.,  166.  Where  also  will  be 
found  the  answer  of  the  Zurich  magistrates,  p.  163. 

1  See  Calvin's  Letter  to  Farel,  Ep.  161. 

^  Ga\.ymi,  Epp.et  Resp.,^^.l5d. 

^  See  Mini  Celsi  Senensis  Dispvtatio,  Ghristliuga),  1577,  p.  98.  The  let- 
ters are  in  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Epp.  158,  159,  160,  and  163. 


LETTERS  OF  THE  SWISS  CHURCHES.  287 

Berne,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  took  an  active  part  in  these 
proceedings,  adnnits  in  his  "  Diary"  that  a  verdict  of  death 
can  not  be  plainly  inferred  from  all  of  them.^  But  Bullinger's 
letter  to  Beza,  of  the  30th  of  August,  an  extract  from  which 
has  been  already  given,*^  as  well  as  his  conduct  after  the  exe- 
cution of  Servetus,  can  leave  no  doubt  as  to  his  sentiments  at 
least,  and  shows  that  the  Genevese  magistrates  did  not  misin- 
terpret the  epistle  of  the  Zurich  church.^  Thv3  question,  how- 
ever, as  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  letters,  so  far  as  it  regards 
Calvin  personally,  is  of  little  importance.  The  appeal  to  the 
Swiss  churches  was  quite  an  affair  of  the  council's,  and  made 
in  order  to  remove  their  own  scruples.  Calvin,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  none.  He  had  not  only  not  advised,  but  had  actu- 
ally opposed  the  appeal. 

The  opinions  of  the  other  churches  were  still  less  decisive 
than  that  of  Zurich,  and  the  ambiguous  terms  in  which  they 
were  expressed  occasioned  considerable  embarrassment  at  Gen- 
eva. The  ordinary  council  felt  unwilling  to  pronounce  sen- 
tence on  Servetus,  without  the  concurrence  of  the  council  of 
Sixty,  which  was  accordingly  summoned.  In  this  assembly 
opinions  were  much  divided,  and  the  debate  lasted  for  three 
entire  days.  Some  were  for  banishment  for  life,  others  for 
perpetual  imprisonment ;  but  the  majority  were  for  death 
by  fire  unless  the  prisoner  made  an  unreserved  recantation. 
When  Ami  Perrin,  then  captain-general  and  first  syndic,  who 
had  hitherto  countenanced  Servetus,  perceived,  at  the  very 
beginning  of  the  debate,  that  the  council  inclined  toward  a 
sentence  of  death,  he  said  that  he  would  not  be  a  partaker  in 
his  blood,  and  quitted  the  senate-house,  together  with  some 
others.*  It  seems  to  have  been  pretty  manifest,  from  the  first, 
what  the  decision  would  be  ;  for  in  a  letter  to  Bullhiger,  dated 
on  the  25th  of  October,  Calvin  says  :  "  Nothing  is  yet  decided 
concerning  Servetus,  but  I  conjecture  that  the  council  will 
give  judgment  to-morrow,  and  that  on  the  next  day  he  will 

1  Mus.  Helv.,  ii.,  102. 

2  See  p.  283.     Compare  his  letter  to  Calvin,  Ep.  157.' 

^  Dr.  Henry  (iii.,  187)  rather  disingenuously  infers  that  the  answers  of  the 
Swiss  churches  sanctioned  capital  punishment,  because  the  Helvetic  con- 
fession prescribed  it  in  cases  of  blasphemy.  The  passage  which  he  quotes 
appears  only  in  the  second  confession,  published  in  1566,  and  therefore  long 
after  the  affair  of  Servetus  ;  by  which,  indeed,  it  might  have  been  suggested. 
(See  Ruchat,  vii.,  272.)  In  the  first  Helvetic  confession,  we  find  only  that 
the  magistrate  should  '•  punish  and  exterminate  all  blasphemy,"  not  blas- 
phemers. (Ruchat,  iv.,  73.)  At  Zurich,  however,  they  seem  never  toTiave 
inflicted  capital  punishment,  except  heresy  had  been  accompanied  with  per- 
jury and  sedition.     See  Minus  Celsus,  Ibid.,  p.  224. 

*  The  tract,  De  Morte  Servef?,  quoted  by  P.  Henry,  iii.,  187. 


288  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

be  led  to  execution."^  And  we  learn  from  another  letter  of 
Calvin's  to  Farel,  dated  on  the  following  day,  that  sentence 
had  been  pronounced  as  he  had  anticipated,  in  spite  of  the 
efforts  of  Perrin  ;  who,  after  absenting  himself  from  the  coun- 
cil for  three  days,  on  pretense  of  illness,  appeared  at  the  last 
hour,  and  endeavored  to  rescue  Servetus,  by  moving  that  the 
case  should  be  referred  to  the  council  of  Two  Hundred.  But 
the  prisoner  was  condemned  without  a  division.^ 

By  the  old  imperial  laws  of  Geneva,  which  still  remained 
unrepealed,  death  by  fire  was  the  punishment  of  heresy.  The 
legal  labors  of  Calvin  had  left  that  barbarous  statute  unre- 
formed.  We  have  already  seen  from  his  letter  to  Farel,  com- 
municating the  apprehension  of  Servetus,  that  though  he  had 
desired  the  Spaniard's  death,  he  had  expressed  a  wish  that 
the  mode  of  it  should  be  alleviated  ;  and  from  the  letter  to 
the  same  person,  just  quoted,  it  would  appear  that  he  had 
really  made  some  efforts  to  effect  that  object,  but  that  these 
had  been  fruitless,  for  some  reason  which  he  would  explain 
to  Farel  when  ihey  met.  The  world,  therefore,  will  most 
probably  forever  remain  in  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  Calvin's 
exertions  on  this  occasion,  and  of  the  causes  which  nullified 
his  powerful  influence  in  so  merciful-  and  praiseworthy  an 
undertaking.  Meanwhile,  he  is  entitled  to  the  credit  of  hav- 
ing made  the  attempt :  though  we  can  not  help  remarking 
another  variation  between  this  letter  and  the  account  which 
he  gives  of  his  own  conduct  in  the  ''Refutatio  ;''  in  which  he 
says,  that  after  the  conviction  of  Servetus,  he  had  not  uttered 
a  single  word  about  his  punishment.* 

The  27th  of  October  was  appointed  for  the  execution  of 
Servetus,  and  on  the  morning  of  that  day  he  requested  to 
have  an  interview  with  Calvin.  The  latter  repaired  to  his 
dungeon,  accompanied  by  two  members  of  the  council.  The 
scene  which  followed  is  taken  from  Calvin's  own  narrative. 
On  one  of  the  councilors  asking  Servetus  what  he  wanted,  he 
replied  that  he  wished  to  beg  Calvin's  mercy.*  Hereupon  the 
latter  protested  that  he  had  never  pursued  any  private  offense. 

^  Ep.  162.  With  a  strange  inconsistency  Calvin  immediately  subjoins  : 
"  Matters  do  not  improve  in  France.  They  do  not  spare  blood  wherever 
there  is  an  opportunity  for  cruelty.  They  will  shortly  bum  thi'ee  at  Dijon, 
unless  it  be  already  done  !"     He  could  see  the  mote  in  his  brother's  eye. 

2  Ep.  161. 

3  "  Not  only  will  all  good  men  be  my  witnesses  that  from  the  time  he 
was  convicted  I  uttered  not  a  single  word  concerning  his  punishment,  but 
all  bad  ones  have  ray  permission  to  produce  any,  if  they  can." — Ref.  Serveii, 
p.  511,  A. 

*  "  Q,u'il  me  vouloit  crier  merci." — Opiisc.  Fr.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  194. 


SKRVETUS  CONDEMNED.  im 

He  reminded  him  that  sixteen  j^ears  before  he  had  used  all 
his  endeavors,  even  at  the  risk  of"  his  life,  to  reclaim  him,  and 
reconcile  him  with  the  faithful ;  that  he  had  afterward  ex- 
horted him  by  letters  ;  in  short,  that  he  had  shown  him  all 
possible  kindness,  till  Servetus,  taking  offense  at  some  of  his 
free  and  holy  admonitions,  had  attacked  him  with  rabid  fury. 
Calvin  then  said,  that  dropping  all  that  concerned  himself 
personally,  he  begged  him  rather  to  ask  mercy  of  God,  whom 
he  had  so  atrociously  blasphemed,  "  When  I  perceived," 
continues  Calvin,  "  that  my  advice  and  exhortations  were  of 
no  avail,  I  was  not  willing  to  be  wiser  than  my  Master 
allows ;  and  following  the  rule  of  St.  Paul,  departed  from  a 
self-condemned  heretic,  who  bore  his  mark  and  reprobation  in 
his  heart."  ^ 

It  being  now  apparent  that  Servetus  would  not  retract,  he 
was  brought  before  the  council,  and  his  sentence  was  read  to 
him  with  the  customary  formalities.^  The  main  grounds  of 
his  condemnation  therein  stated  are,  his  book  on  the  Trinity, 
published  atHagenau,  his  "Restitution  of  Christianity,"  pub- 
lished at  Vienne,  and  his  obstinate  perseverance  in  his  errors. 
It  concludes  as  follows :  '''  We  condemn  you,  Michael  Servetus, 
to  be  bound,  and  led  to  Champel,  where  you  are  to  be  fastened 
to  a  stake  and  burnt  alive,  together  with  your  book,  as  well 
the  printed  one  as  the  manuscript,  till  your  body  be  reduced 
to  ashes  ;  and  thus  shall  you  finish  your  days,  to  be  an  exam- 
ple to  others  who  would  commit  the  like.  And  we  charge 
our  lieutenant  to  see  that  this  our  present  sentence  be  carried 
into  execution."  His  gold  chain  and  other  property  were 
given  to  the  hospital. 

On  hearing  this  dreadful  sentence,  Servetus  was  struck  with 
horror  and  amazement.  He  entreated  the  magistrates  that 
he  might  perish  by  the  sword,  lest  the  greatness  of  his  torment 
should  drive  him  to  desperation,  and  cause  him  to  lose  his  soul. 
He  protested,  that^  if  he  had  siiined,  it  had  been  unwittingly, 
and  that  his  desire  had  always  been  to  promote  God's  glory.* 
When  he  found  that  all  his  supplications  were  fruitless,  he 
fell  into  a  kind  of  stupor,  broken  at  intervals  by  deep  groans 
and  frantic  cries  for  mercy ."* 

^  Refutatio  Serveti,  Opera,  viii.,  511,  A. 

2  Th"is  sentence,  which  is  somewhat  long,  will  be  found  in  the  Bibho- 
thigue  Anglaise,  ii.,  180 ;  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Servets,  p.  444,  and  in  P. 

,  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  iii. 

3  De  Morte  Serveti,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  196. 

*  Calvin  himself  relates  this  circumstance,  Refutatio,  &c.,  Opera,  viii., 
523,  A. 

N 


290  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Calvin  had  written  to  Farel  requesting  him  to  come  to 
Geneva,  and  attend  upon  Servetus  in  his  last  moments ;  an 
office  which  could  not  well  be  undertaken  by  any  of  the  Gen- 
evese  clergy,  who  had  condemned  him.  Farel  obeyed  this 
summons,  and  arrived  in  Geneva  time  enough  to  hear  the 
sentence  pronounced.  He  accompanied  the  unhappy  Span- 
iard to  the  stake,  and  has  recorded  his  last  moments  in  a  let- 
ter to  Ambrose  Blaarer. 

A  little  way  from  the  city  of  Geneva  rises  a  gentle  but 
extended  eminence,  called  Champey,  or  Champel,  the  place 
appointed  for  the  execution  of  Servetus.  Early  in  the  morn- 
ing of  the  27th  of  October,  he  was  led  from  prison  to  undergo 
his  doom.  As  the  procession  slowly  ascended  the  hill,  the 
stake  appeared  in  sight,  though  partly  hidden  by  the  oak 
branches  which  had  been  heaped  around  it,  still  bearing  their 
autumnal  leaves.  A  crowd  had  gathered  round  the  spot 
where  he  was  to  undergo  his  sentence,  and  to  escape  from  his 
earthly  judges  to  the  presence  of  a  higher  and  infallible  tri- 
bunal. Arrived  at  the  summit  of  the  hill,  he  fell  on  the 
earth  in  an  attitude  of  prayer ;  and  while  he  lay  absorbed  in 
his  devotions,  Farel  thus  addressed  the  assembled  multitude  : 
"  See,"  said  he,  "  the  power  of  Satan,  when  he  hath  once 
gotten  possession  of  us  I  This  man  is  particularly  learned, 
and  it  may  be  that  he  thought  he  was  doing  right ;  but  now 
the  devil  hath  him.  Beware,  lest  the  same  thing  happen  to 
yourselves  I"  ^ 

Farel,  who  had  been  with  Servetus  since  seven  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  had  not  ceased  exhorting  him  to  acknowledge 
his  errors ;  but  so  far  was  he  from  doing  this,  that  he  persist- 
ed in  saying  that  he  suffered  unjustly,  that  he  was  led  as  a 
victim  to  the  slaughter ;  at  the  same  time  beseeching  God  to 
have  mercy  on  his  accusers.^  At  last  Farel  said  :  "  Do  you, 
who  are  so  great  a  sinner,  attempt  to  justify  yourself?  I 
had  determined  to  accompany  you  till  your  last  breath,  and 
to  exhort  all  to  pray  for  you,  in  the  hope  that  you  would  edify 
the  people  ;  but  if  you  continue  to  speak  as  you  do,  I  will 
resign  you  to  the  judgment  of  God,  and  abide  with  you  no 
longer."  Hereupon,  continues  Farel,  he  was  silent,  and  spoke 
not  again  in  the  same  manner.'^ 

When  Servetus  arose  from  his  devotions,  Farel  exhorted 
him  to  address  the  people ;  but  sighs  and  groans  almost  choked 

^  Kirchhofer,  Lehen  Farels,  ii.,  119. 

'  Farel  to  Blaarer,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  iii.,  72,  from  Zurich,  MS. 

3   Ibid. 


EXECUTION  OF  SERVETUS.  291 

his  utterance,  and  all  that  he  could  utter  was,  "  Oh,  God  I 
Oh,  God  !"  When  Farel  asked  him  if  he  had  nothing  else 
to  say,  he  replied,  "What  can  I  speak  of  but  of  Godl"^ 
Farel  now  told  him,  that  if  he  had  a  wife  or  a  child,  and 
wished  to  make  his  will,  there  was  a  notary  present ;  but  to 
this  suggestion  Servetus  made  no  answer.  At  a  hint  of 
Farel' s,  he  requested  the  assembled  multitude  to  pray  for 
him ;  but  to  the  last  moment  he  could  not  be  induced  to  ad- 
dress Christ  as  the  eternal  son  of  God.^ 

About  mid-day,  Servetus  was  led  to  the  stake.  Before  it 
lay  a  large  block  of  wood  on  which  he  was  to  sit.  An  iron 
chain  encompassed  his  body,  and  held  him  to  the  stake  ;  his 
neck  was  fastened  to  it  by  a  strong  cord,  which  encircled  it 
several  times.  On  his  head  was  placed  a  crown  of  plaited 
straw  and  leaves,  strewed  with  sulphur  to  assist  in  suffocating 
him.  At  his  girdle  were  suspended  both  his  printed  books, 
and  the  manuscript  which  he  had  sent  to  Calvin — the  causes 
of  his  miserable  end.  Servetus  begged  the  executioner  to  put 
him  quickly  out  of  his  misery.  But  the  fellow,  either  from 
accident  or  design,  had  not  been  properly  instructed  in  his 
duty,  and  had  collected  a  heap  of  green  wood.  When  the 
fire  was  kindled,  Servetus  uttered  such  a  piercing  shriek,  that 
the  crowd  fell  back  with  a  shudder.  Some,  more  humane 
than  the  authorities,  ran  and  threw  in  fagots  :  nevertheless, 
his  sufferings  lasted  about  half  an  hour.  Just  before  he  ex- 
pired, he  cried  with  a  terrible  voice :  "  Jesus,  thou  son  of  the 
eternal  God,  have  mercy  upon  me  I"  thus  persisting  in  his 
heresy  to  his  latest  breath.^ 

It  is  related  in  the  book  which  passes  under  the  name  of 
"  Vaticafius,''  that  Bernardin  Ochino,  the  celebrated  preacher, 
on  his  return  from  England,  arrived  in  Geneva  the  day  fol- 
lowing the  execution  ;  and  on  hearing  it  related,  expressed  so 
much  horror  and  indignation,  as  to  give  rise  to  the  hatred  with 
which  Calvin  ever  afterward  pursued  him."*  The  scene  had 
such  an  effect  upon  Farel  himself,  that  he  had  not  strength 
to  relate  it  to  Calvin,  but  returned  at  once  to  Neufchatel 
without  seeing  him.^ 

In  person  Servetus  was  of  middling  size,  thin  and  pale  ;  his 
eyes  beaming  with  thought  and  intelligence,  but  mingled  with 

'  De  Morte  Serveii,  apudV.  Henry,  iii.,  199. 

2  Ibid.  3  ihid.,  iii,,  200. 

*  See  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  ii.,  110,  note. 

s  Gaberel,  Calvin  a  GSnive,  p.  231.  The  long  scene  which  Dr.  Henry 
paints  between  Calvin  and  Farel,  on  the  evening  of  Servetus's  execution, 
seems  drawn  from  imagination. 


292  LIFK  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

an  expression  of  melancholy  and  fanaticism.  His  memory, 
says  Mosheim,  was  tenacious,  his  imagination  inexhaustible, 
his  wit  great,  his  industry  wonderful,  his  love  of  learning 
ardent  ;  but  he  had  not  sufficient  understanding  to  use  these 
advantages  wisely.  His  discoveries,  both  in  religion  and 
science  ;  his  cleverness  in  combating  the  opinions  of  others  ; 
his  happy  emendations  of  Ptolemy  ;  his  voluminous  and  elo- 
quent writings  ;  his  ability  to  seize  and  present  a  doctrine  in 
many  points  of  view  ;  and  his  deep  thoughts  on  some  of  the 
passages  of  Scripture,  testify  the  strength  and  fruitfulness  of 
his  imagination  :  his  love  for  prediction  and  astrology  ;  his 
idea  of  the  double  sense  of  Scripture  and  prophecy  ;  his  ground- 
less interpretations  of  the  prophets,  and  of  the  Apocalypse,  as 
well  as  his  strange  and  unreasonable  explanations  of  some 
parts  of  religion,  betray  the  weakness  of  his  understanding. 
But  nothing  can  show  this  more  than  his  fanaticism  ;  which 
was  so  fostered  by  pride  and  self-love,  that  he  looked  upon 
himself  as  destined  by  Providence  to  restore  the  Church.^ 

Such  a  character  presents  the  greatest  possible  contrast  to 
that  of  Calvin,  whose  strong  understanding  and  practical  turn 
of  mind,  led  him,  perhaps,  too  far  the  other  way,  and  caused 
him  almost  to  analyze  scriptural  truth  into  a  logical  formula. 
The  difference  in  the  minds  of  the  two  men  is  strikingly  ex- 
emplified in  their  respective  styles.  Clear,  concise,  and  forci- 
ble, Calvin  appeals  only  to  the  understanding  of  his  reader ; 
diffiase,  fanciful,  and  frequently  obscure,  Servetus  seeks  rather 
to  excite  his  enthusiasm.  But  for  his  fanaticism,  which  gave 
a  wrong  direction  to  his  powers,  Servetus  would  probably 
have  left  a  great  name  in  science  for  discoveries  which  the 
positive  mind  of  Calvin  could  never  have  achieved.  Besides 
his  theory  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  he  had  also  attempt- 
ed to  fix  the  seat  of  the  mind,  and  to  distinguish  the  princi- 
ples of  animal  and  vegetable  life,  "  Another  of  his  theories," 
says  a  late  writer- — "  the  life  is  in  the  blood — has  been  the 
subject  of  much  discussion  among  the  friends  and  the  oppo- 
nents of  John  Hunter.  There  certainly  is  a  very  great  obscu- 
rity in  all  the  opinions  that  Servetus  advanced  :  they  are  so 
blended  with  his  refigious  notions,  that  they  are  sometimes 
rendered  unintelligible.  Still  we  perceive  an  original  mode 
of  thinking  pervades  each  idea,  and  much  material  for  reason- 
ing is  constantly  prepared  to  us  :  and  when  we  remember  that 
this  extraordinary  man  gave  the  world  the  first  clear  descrip- 
tion of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  seA^enty-five  years  before 

1  See  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Servets,  B.  ii.,  ^  36. 


CHARACTER  OF  SERVETUS.  29^ 

our. immortal  Harvey  published  the  result  of  his  inquiries,  it 
is  but  justice  that  his  other  theories,  which  have  been  almost 
unknown,  should  again  be  brought  forward."^ 

That  according  to  the  doctors  of  the  Church,  both  Roman 
Catholic  and  Protestant,  the  tenets  of  Servetns  were  unortho- 
dox, and  his  mode  of  maintaining  them  blasphemous,  can  not 
admit  of  a  doubt.  He  nevertheless  entertained  a  strong  sense 
of  religion,  and  was  disposed  to  seek  the  truth ,^  but  was  led 
astray  by  pride  and  fanaticism.  A  mere  unbeliever  would 
not  have  maintained  his  opinions  so  firmly  throughout  his  life, 
and  at  last  have  sealed  them  with  his  blood.  His  works 
abound  with  ardent  expressions  of  devotion  :  ^  but  it  is  possible 
that  he  may  have  been  as  much  actuated  in  his  conduct  by  the 
desire  of  becoming  noted  as  a  Reformer,  as  by  any  real  piety. 
It  does  not  belong  to  this  work  to  give  any  detailed  account 
of  his  religious  notions,  which,  indeed,  are  frequently  obscure 
and  unintelligible.  They  were  founded  on  a  philosophical 
pantheism,  which,  while  he  did  not  reject  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  led  him  to  deny  his  co-eternity  with  the  Father,  and 
to  regard  Trinitarians,  whom  he  called  Tritheists,  as  no  bet- 
ter than  atheists.  They  who  desire  to  be  further  acquainted 
with  his  tenets  will  find  an  account  of  them  at  the  end  of 
Calvin's  tract  against  him ;  in  the  third  book  of  Mosheim's 
History  of  Servetus  ;  and  in  the  appendix  to  the  third  volume 
of  his  life,  by  Dr.  P.  Henry.  The  charges  of  immorality 
brought  against  him  by  Calvin  were  altogether  unfounded. 

Previously  to  the  execution  of  Servetus,  a  few  voices  had 
been  raised  in  his  favor.  David  George,  or  Joris,  who  after- 
ward became  noted  as  the  founder  of  an  Anabaptist  sect,  but 
who  was  then  residing  at  Basle,  under  the  assumed  name  of 
John  von  Bruck,  and  who  was  much  respected  at  that  time 
by  the  Reformed  churches,  wrote  to  the  governments  of  the 

1  The  umioticed  Theories  of  Servetus,  by  Dr.  Sigmond,  In  trod.,  p.  16. 

2  He  concludes  the  preface  to  his  De  Trinitate  Divind,  with  the  follow 
ing  prayer  :  "  O  Christ  Jesus,  Son  of  God,  thou  who,  sent  to  us  from  heaven, 
makest  visible  in  thyself  the  I'evealed  deity,  disclose  thyself  to  thy  servant, 
that  so  great  a  manifestation  may  be  truly  understood.  Bestow  upon  me 
now  thy  good,  spirit  and  thy  efficacious  word ;  guide  my  mind  and  my  pen 
so  that  I  may  be  able  to  describe  the  glory  of  thy  divinity,  and  to  express 
the  true  faith  concerning,  thee.  This  is  thy  cause,  explaining  thy  glory 
from  the  Father,  and  the  glory  of  thy  Spirit,  which,  by  a  certain  divine  im- 
pulse, it  occurred  to  me  to  treat  of,  when  I  was  solicitous  for  thy  truth.  I 
treated  of  it  before,  and  am  now  again  compelled  to  do  so :  for  the  time  is 
complete,  as  I  shall  now  show  to  all  the  pious,  both  from  the  certitude  of 
the  thing  itself,  and  from  the  manifest  signs  of  the  times.  Thou  hast  taught 
us  not  to  hide  pur  light :  and  woe  be  to  me  unless  I  evang'elize.  It  con- 
cerns the  common  cause  of  all  Christians,  to  which  we  are  all  bound  " 


294  LLFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

different  towns  to  avert  the  fate  of  Servetus.     He  may  possi- 
bly have  beheld  in  him  a  brother  Anabaptist,  and  his  argu- 
ments for  toleration  may  not  have  been  altogether  disinterest- 
ed ;  but  that  circumstance  will  not  strip  them  of  their  eternal 
truth.     Gribaldo,  an  Italian  jurisconsult,  residing  at  Geneva, 
and  whom  we  shall  again  have  occasion  to  mention  in  the 
course  of  this  narrative,  also  spoke  in  favor  of  Servetus.^     But 
while  his  fate  remained  undecided,  this  feeling  was  only  feebly 
manifested.     The  final  decision  of  the  Genevese  magistrates 
was  followed  almost  immediately  by  the  execution  of  their 
prisoner ;  and  there  was  hardly  time,  even  in  Geneva  itself, 
to  express  an  opinion  upon  an  act  whose  very  atrocity  might 
have  led  people  to  think  that  it  would  never  be  committed. 
But  the  actual  tidings  of  his  fate  produced  an  immediate,  un- 
equivocal, and,  out  of  the  clerical  circles,  pretty  general  mani- 
festation of  disapproval  and  aversion.^     The  more  reflecting 
portion  of  the  public  condemned  the  act,  not  only  for  its  atroc- 
ity, but  for  its  impolicy.     They  perceived  that  such  a  pro- 
ceeding on  the  part  of  a  Reformed  church,  would  only  strength- 
en the  cause  of  the  Papists,  and  afford  a  sanction  to  their 
blood-thirsty  persecutions.^     The  general  feeling  manifested 
itself  with  more  heat  and  violence.     Libels  appeared  against 
the  council  in  prose  and  verse  ;  and  the  Italian  refugees  were 
particularly  active  in  composing  and  circulating  these  produc- 
tions.'*    It  was  said  that  an  inquisition  of  a  new  kind  had 
been  erected ;  that  Geneva  had  its  Pope  as  well  as  Home  ; 
that  Christ  himself  would  have  been  crucified  had  he  come 
thither.     Even  some  of  Calvin's  personal  friends  could  not 
refrain  from  expressing  their  disapprobation.     Meanwhile,  in 
reply  to  these  attacks,  the  pulpits  of  Geneva  resounded  with 
denunciations  of  Servetus  and  his  doctrines  ;  and  Calvin  was 
at  first  inclined  to  take  no  other  notice  of  the  assaults  of  the 
pamphleteers.     He  seems  to  have  felt  the  difficultv  and  in- 

1  P.  Henry  iii.,  182,  et  seq. 

2  "Scarce,  therefore,  had  the  ashes  of  that  unhappy  wretch  grown  cold, 
when  people  began  to  agitate  the  question  respecting  the  punishment  of 
heretics." — Beza,  Viia  Calv.,  anno  1553. 

3  "  Which  punishment,  though  he  richly  deserved  it,  gave  rise  to  much 
dispute;  some  defending  it  as  proper,  while  others  thought  that  such  a  pre- 
cedent should  not  have  been  established  in  the  church,  lest  it  should  give 
further  occasion  to  the  Papists  of  cruelly  burning  the  faithful :  and  because 
even  the  ancients  held  that  heretics  were  to  be  confuted  by  Scripture,  and 
not  by  punishments." — Haller's  Diary,  1553,  Mus.  Helv.,  ii.,  102. 

*  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  268.  A  specimen  of  one  of  these  poems,  by  a  Sicil- 
ian, named  Camillo  Renato,  consisting  of  between  eight  hundred  and  nine 
hundred  Latin  hexameters,  entitled  "/ti  /.  Calvinuvi,  de  injuato  M.  ^er- 
veti  Incendio,"  will  be  found  in  Trechsel,  Beil.  iv. 


BOOK  ON  THE  PUMISHMENT  OF  HERETICS.  295 

vidiousness  of  justifying  his  own  act  in  a  formal  publication  ; 
and  to  have  shrunk  from  the  task  till  urged  to  it  by  the  in- 
creasing voice  of  public  indignation,  and  the  earnest  exhorta- 
tions of  BuUinger.  In  his  answer  to  Baudouin,  he  declares 
that  he  should  never  have  entered  upon  the  subject  but  for 
Bullinger's  advice  ;  and  we  find  the  latter,  in  a  letter  to  Cal- 
vin, of  the  13th  of  December,  1553,  urging  him  to  describe 
Servetus  and  his  last  moments  in  such  a  manner  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  style  of  those  days,  "  all  might  abhor  the  beast."  ^ 

Calvin  was  now  to  justify  and  give  his  sanction  to  the 
capital  punishment  of  heretics.  This  was  an  important  step, 
but  it  was  one  which  could  no  longer  be  delayed.^  Early  in 
the  year  1554  appeared  his  "  Declaration  pour  maintenir  la 
vraie  Foi  touchant  la  Trinite  contre  les  Errems  de  M.  Ser- 
vet,''  &c.  ;  which  was  shortly  afterward  followed  by  a  Latin 
version,  from  his  own  hand,  bearing  the  title  of  "  Fidelia 
Expositio  Err 0 rum  M.  Serveti,  et  brevis  eorundem  Refu- 
tatio  ubi  docetur  jure  Gladii  coercendos  esse  HcBreticos.''' 

This  work  is  remarkable  only  for  the  bitter  spirit  in  which 
Calvin  attacks  a  man  whom  he  had  sent  to  his  last  account, 
and  for  the  atrocious  way  in  which  he  advocates  the  general 
principle  laid  down  in  it.  That  he  may  not  seem  to  sanction 
the  popish  fires,  he  maintains  that  the  punishment  of  heretics 
belongs  only  to  those  who  hold  the  true  doctririe^  that  is,  to 
himself  and  his  followers  ;  thus  claiming  a  monopoly  of  per- 
secution. This  claim  is  enforced  by  a  very  clear  and  power- 
ful argumentum  ad  hominem ;  namely,  that  whosoever 
should  dispute  his  opinions  on  the  point,  would  himself  be- 
come obnoxious  to  a  charge  of  blasphemy,  and  thus  be  in 
danger  of  lighting  his  own  pyre.  The  whole  passage,  for  its 
atrocity,  deserves  to  be  inserted.  "  Whoever,"  he  says, 
"  shall  now  contend  that  it  is  unjust  to  put  heretics  and 
blasphemers  to  death,  will  knowingly  and  willingly  incur 
their  very  guilt.  This  is  not  laid  down  on  human  authority  ; 
it  is  God  himself  who  speaks,  and  prescribes  a  perpetual  rule 
for  his  church.  It  is  not  in  vain  that  he  banishes  all  those 
human  afiections  which  soften  our  hearts  :  that  he  commands 


1  See  Calvin,  Responsio  ad  Balduini  Convicia,  Opera,  viiL,  317,  A., 
Amst.  ed.,  and  compare  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  166. 

2  "The  urgent  necessity  I  have  mentioned  compels  me  now  at  least  to 
enter  on  a  task  that  should  have  been  performed  sooner;  especially  as  the 
punishment  lately  inflicted  in  this  city  on  the  very  author  of  the  sect  has 
occasioned  discussions  of  a  new  kind." — Refulatio,  Sac,  Opera,  yiii.,  510,  B. 

3  "Ut  compertfe  veritati  succedat  demum  poenarum  sanctio>" — Ibid., 
yiii^  516.  A, 


296  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

paternal  love,  and  all  benevolent  feelings  between  brothers, 
relations,  and  friends  to  cease ;  in  a  word,  that  he  almost 
deprives  men  of  their  nature,  in  order  that  nothing  may 
hinder  their  holy  zeal.  Why  is  so  implacable  a  severity  ex- 
acted, but  that  we  may  know  that  God  is  defrauded  of  his 
honor,  unless  the  piety  that  is  due  to  him  be  preferred  to  all 
human  duties ;  and  that,  when  his  glory  is  to  be  asserted, 
humanity  must  be  almost  obliterated  from  our  memories."^ 
It  would  be  superfluous  at  the  present  day  to  examine  the 
reasoning  -by  which  Calvin  attempts  to  support  these  mon- 
strous sentiments.  Servetus  called  him  a  Jew  for  entertaining 
them,  and  his  line  of  argument  seems  to  justify  the  liame. 
Nearly  all  his  authorities  are  drawn  from  the  Old  Testament ; 
those  which  he  attempts  to  bring  from  the  New  are  of  course 
utter  failures. 

Calvin's  personal  defense  in  this  tract  is  a  question  at  once 
more  difficult  and  more  interesting.  Here  we  have  to  con- 
sider his  individual  share  in  procuring  the  death  of  Servetus, 
and,  if  culpable  at  all,  how  far  his  guilt  extends. 

Calvin  boldly  avows  his  share  in  the  proceedings  at  Geneva  ;^ 
and  indeed  it  was  too  notorious  to  be  denied,  even  had  he  been 
so  inclined.  Since,  then,  he  acknowledges  his  intention,  in 
which  the  guilt,  if  any,  hes,  it  is  httle  to  the  purpose  to  in- 
quire what  power  he  had  to  carry  it  into  efiect.  Yet,  as 
some  modern  writers  have  tried  to  extenuate  his  conduct  on 
the  ground  that  he  had  at  that  time  but  little  influence,  it 
may  be  as  well  to  state  that  this  assertion  does  not  appear  to 
be  borne  out  by  facts.  It  is  true  that  Perrin  and  the  Patriot 
party,  during  that  and  the  following  year,  made  a  stronger 
opposition  to  Calvin  than  they  were  able  either  before  or  sub- 
sequently to  offer.  But  Perrin's  influence  lay  chiefly  in  the 
council  of  Two  Hundred :  before  whom,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  case  of  Servetus  was  not  permitted  to  be  brought.  In 
the  ordinary  council  Calvin  was  still  predominant,  and  his 
power  over  the  life  of  Servetus  is  acknowledged  by  himself 

in  several  passages  of  his  tract.^ 

« 

1  Refutatio,  Opera,  \\n.,  516,  A. 

2  See  the  Refutatio,  &c.,  Opera,  viii.,  517,  A. ;  also,  Calvin  to  Sultzer, 
Ep.  156. 

3  The  avowal  is  particularly  striking  in  the  French  edition  :  "  Ce  m'  est 
assez  qu'on  sache  que  je  ne  1'  ay  point  pei-secute  si  mortellement  qu'il  ne 
lay  fut  loysible  de  racheter  sa  vie  en  donnant  quelque  signe  de  modestie." 
— Bibliotheque  Anglaise,  ii.,  132.  This  passage  alone  sufficiently  refutes 
M.  Rillet's  assertion  (in  his  "  Relation  du  Proces  Criminel,"  &c.)  that  Cal- 
vin had  no  influence  on  the  trial  of  Servetus.  Yet  Dr.  Henry  adopts  it; 
and  to  support  it,  quotes  from  Calvin's  works  a  passage  wholly  irrelevant;. 


GROUNDS  OF  CALVIN'S  DEFENSE.  '^ 

Calvin  has  been  often  reproached  with  his  lietter  to  Farel 
in  1546,  in  which  he  expresses  his  determination  to  put  Ser- 
vetus  to  death,  if  he  should  ever  come  to  Geneva.  But  the 
bold  line  of  defense  adopted  by  Calvin  renders  it  in  reality  of 
little  importance,  except  for  the  change  of  tone  it  exhibits  the 
moment  that  the  quarrel  becomes  personal,  and  for  the  contrast 
which  it  presents  with  the  language  of  another  letter  that  he 
wrote  to  Frellon  on  the  same  day.  It  would  be  idle  to  charge 
a  man  who  avows  and  justifies  an  act  with  having  enter- 
tained the  idea  of  committing  it. 

The  history  of  this  sad  affair  can  leave  no  doubt  that  Cal- 
vin desired,  and  was  the  main  instrument  in  bringing  about 
the  death  of  Servetus  ;  but  it  is  possible  that  he  endeavored 
to  mitigate  the  manner  of  it.  Turretin  affirms  that  Calvin, 
with  the  rest  of  the  pastors,  dissuaded  the  council  from  burn- 
ing Servetus  ;^  but  he  does  not  give  any  authority  for  this 
statement,  nor  does  it  appear  to  be  confirmed  by  the  Registers 
of  Geneva,  nor  by  any  other  public  document.  Yet  it  is,  per- 
haps, to  some  such  endeavor  that  a  passage  in  Calvin's  tract 
against  Servetus  refers,  in  which  he  says  that  whatever  was 
done  by  the  council  is  ascribed  to  him  f  for  it  would  be  incon- 
sistent not  only  with  several  other  passages  in  that  tract,  but 
with  the  whole  spirit  of  his  defense,  to  think  that  he  wished 
to  make  the  council  responsible  for  the  mere  execution,  as 
well  as  for  the  mode  of  it. 

It  is  impossible  at  the  present  day  to  justify  Calvin  on 
his  own  grounds,  and  recourse  is  therefore  had  to  other  argu- 
ments. The  chief  of  these  are  drawn  from  the  manners  of 
the  time,  and  from  the  predominant  influence  of  the  Homan 
Catholic  principle. 

To  say  that  Calvin  was  not  in  advance  of  his  age  is  to  pay 
but  a  poor  tribute  to  so  eminent  a  Reformer.  Such  reasoners 
should  rather  affirm  that  he  appears  to  have  been  behind  it ; 
for,  as  we  have  seen,  a  great  many  voices  were  raised  to  pro- 
test against  his  act.  But,  as  Mosheim  observes,^  it  is  not  the 
fact  that  Calvin  was  so  ignorant  of  his  duty  toward  his  erring 
brethren.  In  the  earlier  editions  of  his  "  Institutes,"  passages 
breathing  a  mild  and  tolerant  spirit  show  that  he  had  early 

[Lehen  Calvins,  iii.,  Beil.  iii.,  p.  50,  note.)  Even  he,  however,  can  not  digest 
Hillet's  absurd  argument  that  Servetus  was  not  executed  as  a  blasphemer, 
or  enemy  of  Calvin's,  but  for  sedition ;  and  has  thought  it  worth  while  to 
spend  some  pages  in  refuting  it.     (See  the  same  Beilage.) 

1  See  his  Institutio  Theologies  Elencticce,  iii.,  374. 

2  Refutatio  Served,  Opera,  viii.,  511,  A. 

3  Gesckichte  Servets,  B .  ii.,  $  35. 

N* 


298  LIFE  OP  JOHN  CALVIN. 

arrived  at  the  conviction  that  heretics  should  not  be  punished 
by  death.  The  following  quotation  irom  one  of  these  is  given 
in  the  vi^ork  of  Minus  Celsus  :  "Wherefore  though  it  be  not 
laM  ful,  on  account  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  to  live  familiarly 
with  excommunicated  persons,  yet  we  should  strive  by  all 
possible  means,  by  exhortation  and  teaching,  by  clemency  and 
kindness,  and  by  our  prayers  to  God,  that  they  may  be  con- 
verted to  better  thoughts,  and  return  to  the  bosom  of  the 
Church.  Nor  are  these  only  to  be  so  treated,  but  also  Turks 
and  Saracens,  and  the  rest  of  the  enemies  of  true  religion.  So 
little  to  be  approved  of  are  the  methods  by  which  many  have 
hitherto  endeavored  to  drive  them  to  our  faith ;  by  interdict- 
ing them  from  fire  and  water  and  the  other  elements  ;  by 
denying  them  the  common  offices  of  humanity ;  and  by  pur- 
suing them  with  the  sword."  ^  This  and  other  passages  were 
much  altered  in  later  editions  ;  but  even  now  several  remain 
which  stand  in  glaring  contrast  with  the  tenets  maintained  in 
the  tract  against  Servetus.  What  could  have  induced  Calvin 
to  change  these  opinions  ?  Is  it  possible  that  a  man  so  acute, 
and  so  little  obnoxious  to  the  charge  of  fickleness  and  incon- 
stancy, should  have  been  led  by  the  growth  of  reason  and  ex- 
perience to  reject  such  truly  Christian  sentiments  as  ill-formed 
and  immature  ?  Or  was  he  influenced  by  other  motives  that 
took  his  reason  prisoner  ? 

The  argument  that  Calvin  was  guided  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  principle  in  which  he  had  been  brought  up,  and 
which  he  saw  in  daily  operation,  stands  on  much  the  same 
grounds,  and  is  liable  to  the  same  objections  as  the  preceding 
one.  Of  the  fact,  indeed,  of  his  having  adopted  that  principle 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  But  we  may  be  sure  that  Calvin 
himself  would  have  rejected,  with  indignation  and  horror,  the 
imputation  that  he  was  under  the  influence  of  a  church  which 
he  regarded  as  Belial  and  Antichrist,  and  of  whose  principles 
he  sought  not  how  much  he  could  retain,  but  how  much  he 
could  reject :  and  so  in  his  tract  he  expressly  distinguishes  his 
cause  from  the  Roman  Catholic.  Yet  some  of  his  modern 
defenders  would  make  that  church  wholly  responsible  for  his 
conduct  on  this  occasion.^     The  horrible  persecutions  of  his 

1  This  passage  is  now  read  differently  iu  Institutio,  iv.,  12,  $  10.  See 
Mini  Celsi  Senensis  Dispuf.atio,  p.  98.  Liebe,  also,  who  had  seen  the 
edition  of  the  Institutio  published  at  Sti'asburgh,  iu  1539,  says  in  his  Dia- 
tribe de  Pseudonymid  I.  Calvini  (p.  32),  that  it  contained  many  passages  in 
favor  of  treating  heretics  mildly,  which  were  expunged  from  the  later  editions. 

'  "  Ihr  priucip  also  ist  es,  das  noch  hier  in  dem  Genfer  Rath  triumphirt : 
und  sie  sind  fiir  diese  That  verantwortlich,  dies  Blut  schreit  auf  gegen 
sie." — P.  Henry,  iii.,  208.    See  also  Scott,  Continuation  of  Milner,  iii.,  436. 


CALVIN  JUSTIFIED  BY  MELANCTHON,  ETC.  299 

brethren  which  were  constantly  taking  place,  were  calculated, 
one  would  think,  to  excite  and  keep  alive  Calvin's  horror  for 
that  bloody  principle  ;  though  Dr.  Henry  has  used  this  argu- 
ment the  other  way,  and  affirms,  that  when  such  dreadful 
murders  of  the  Protestant  martyrs  were  daily  heard  of  in 
France,  Italy,  and  Spain,  it  must  have  appeared  ridiculous 
to  let  such  a  man  as  Servetus  live  ;  and  that  we  can  only 
wonder  at  the  tranquillity  of  his  judges  in  such  dreadful 
times  I '  On  the  value  of  such  a  motive  the  reader  must 
decide. 

The  most  plausible  apology  for  Calvin  is,  perhaps,  to  be 
found  in  the  opinions  of  his  brother  theologians.  We  have 
already  quoted  Bullinger's,  before  the  execution  of  Servetus  ; 
and  he  retained  it  afterward,^  Peter  Martyr,  in  a  letter  to 
the  Poles  who  had  embraced  the  gospel,  dated  the  14th  of 
February,  1556,  vindicated  the  conduct  of  the  Genevese  mag- 
istrates.^ But  the  most  important  approval  is  that  of  Melanc- 
thon,  unequivocally  pronounced  in  a  letter  to  Calvin,  acknowl- 
edging the  receipt  of  his  book  against  Servetus,  and  dated  the 
14th  of  October,  1554,  In  this  Melancthon  says:  "I  have 
read  your  tract  in  which  you  lucidly  refute  the  horrid  blas- 
phemies of  Servetus,  and  give  thanks  to  the  Son  of  God,  who 
was  the  arbiter  of  your  contest.  The  Church  owes  you  her 
gratitude  both  now  and  hereafter.  I  quite  agree  in  your  opin- 
ion, and  naoreover  assert  that  your  magistrates  acted  with 
perfect  justice  in  putting  the  blasphemer  to  death  after  a  reg- 
ular trial."*  He  repeats  the  same  opinion  in  a  letter  to  Bul- 
linger. 

Calvin  is  entitled  to  all  the  weight  of  these  opinions  in  his 
favor,  by  which  he  seems  almost  to  stand  acquitted.  It  must, 
however,  be  observed,  that  they  relate  only  to  the  trial  and 
execution  of  Servetus  at  Geneva,  which  Calvin  avowed :  but, 
for  a  full  appreciation  of  his  conduct  and  motives,  there  still 
remains  to  be  considered  the  part  he  took  in  handing  over 
Servetus  to  the  authorities  of  Vienne,  which  he  denied.     The 

1  "Hierzu  kommt  dass  man  taglich  von  furchtbaren  Ermordungen  der 
heiligen  Bekenner  in  Frankreich,  Italien,  und  Spanien  horte,  so  dass  es 
lacherlich  scheinen  konnte  einen  solchen  Menschen  leben  zxx  lassen,  und 
man  wahrlich  in  jener  wilden  Zeit  die  Ruhe  der  Richter  bewundern 
muss." — Leben  Calvins,  in.,  157. 

2  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  173, 

3  Trechsel,  i.,  267,  Zusdtze. 

*  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  187  and  214.  Melancthon  held  the  same 
opinion  in  the  case  of  Campanus.  Luther  was  for  treating  him  with  con- 
tempt ;  but  Melancthon  thought  he  should  be  hung  on  a  lofty  gallows,  and 
wrote  to  the  sovereign  to  that  effect  (Luther,  Tischreden,  apud  Schlosser, 
Lcheu  Beza'!,  p.  T,\i). 


300  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

eminent  theologians,  whose  opinions  have  .been  adduced,  might 
recognize  the  salutary  effect  of  the  formal  trial  and  condemna- 
tion of  an  obstinate  heretic  by  a  Reformed  tribunal,  and  yet 
have  objected  to  his  being  clandestinely  betrayed  into  the 
hands  of  a  Roman  Catholic  one.  The  two  cases  stand  on 
grounds  perfectly  distinct ;  though  one  may  serve  by  way  of 
comment  on  the  other.  The  main  cause  that  weighed  with 
BuUinger  was  the  beneficial  effect  which  such  a  proceeding 
would  have  on  the  Reformed  churches,  which  were  accused 
of  abetting  heresy.^  Martyr  and  Melancthon  advert  to  a 
formal  trial  and  condemnation ;  and  the  sentence  of  the  Gen- 
evese  magistrates  on  Servetus  affirms  that  he  was  to  be  "an 
example  to  others."  But  his  execution  at  Vienne  would  have 
passed  almost  unnoticed.  He  would  have  been  confounded 
with  the  numerous  martyrs  to  Calvin's  own  principles  ;  and 
so  neither  God's  honor  would  have  been  consulted,  nor  the 
interests  of  the  Reformed  Church  advanced  ;  but  rather,  on 
the  contrary,  injured,  by  the  sanction  thus  given  by  Calvin  to 
the  blood-thirsty  persecutions  of  the  Papists. 

But  Calvin  denied  having  betrayed  Servetus,  and  his  denial 
must  therefore  be  examined.  The  following  is  a  literal  trans- 
lation of  it :  "  But  let  the  right  of  the  magistrates  be  what  it 
may,  I  am  not  thereby  released  from  the  personal  invidious- 
ness  with  which  I  am  sore  oppressed  by  many ;  who  affirm 
that  nothing  was  more  unbecoming  than  that  I  should  have 
flung  Servetus  to  the  professed  enemies  of  Christ,  as  to  wild 
beasts.  For  they  assert  that  it  was  by  my  means  that  he  was 
apprehended  at  Vienne  in  the  province  of  Lyons.  But  whence 
could  I  have  suddenly  acquired  so  great  a  familiarity,  or  rather 
favor,  with  the  satellites  of  the  Pope  ?  Is  it  credible,  forsooth, 
that  a  correspondence  should  be  kept  up  between  those  who 
are  not  less  at  variance  than  Christ  and  Belial  ?  Wherefore 
there  is  no  need  to  use  many  words  in  refuting  so  futile  a 
calumny,  which  falls  to  the  ground  by  a  simple  denial.  Ser- 
vetus himself  invented  this  charge  against  me  four  years  ago, 
and  took  care  to  spread  it  at  Vienne.  I  will  not  inquire 
whether  he  was  actuated  by  a  malignant  wish  to  excite 
against  me  a  causeless  hatred,  or  whether  he  really,  though 
falsely,  suspected  what  he  charged  me  with.  I  only  ask,  if 
he  was  then  betrayed  by  my  evidence,  how  comes  it  that  he 
lived  for  three  years  quietly,  and  without  molestation,  in  the 
presence  of  his  enemies  ?    One  of  two  things  must  be  conceded ; 

1  See  BulUnger's  letter  to  Calvin,  Ep.  157,  and  the  answer  of  the  Zurich 
ministers,  Ep.  159,  sub  fin. 


CALVIN  AND  THE  FRENCH  INQUISITION.  3M 

either  the  accusation  was  false,  or  this  holy  martyr  must  have 
been  regarded  with  too  much  favor  by  the  Papists  for  any  accu- 
sation of  mine  to  hurt  him.  Nor,  were  the  charge  true,  should. 
I  think  it  worth  while  to  deny  it,  since  I  do  not  dissemble  that 
it  was  by  my  authority  he  was  arrested  and  tried  in  this  city."  ^ 

To  make  this  denial  literally  true,  it  is  only  necessary,  as 
Mosheim  remarks,  that  Calvin  should  not  have  actually  writ- 
ten or  dictated  Trie's  letters,  and  that  the  first  should  have 
been  dispatched  without  his  knowledge ;  the  possibility  of 
both  which  circumstances  has  been  already  admitted.  Cal- 
vin would  not  then  have  had  a  correspondence  and  familiarity 
Avith  the  satellites  of  the  Pope,  nor  would  he  have  been  the 
first  cause  of  the  apprehension  of  Servetus.  But  this  does  not 
clear  him  from  the  charge  of  having  furnished  the  evidence  by 
which  alone  Trie's  denunciation  could  be  rendered  effectual ; 
and  of  thus  having  made  himself  a  partaker  in  whatever 
guilt  attaches  to  such  an  act.  It  may  be  said  that  Calvin's 
character  places  him  above  the  suspicion  of  such  a  subter- 
fuge. But  the  only  way  to  obviate  it  is  to  prove  that  Trie's 
letters,  supported  as  they  are  by  the  proceedings  at  Geneva 
and  other  collateral  circumstances,  are  not  genuine  ;  a  feat 
not  yet  attempted  by  Calvin's  warmest  advocates.  And,  in 
fact,  his  conscience  was  rather  pliant  in  the  matter  of  reser- 
vations, as  may  be  seen  in  a  letter  of  his  to  the  Duchess  of 
Ferrara ;  in  which  he  tells  her  that  she  is  not  obhged  to  keep 
an  oath  administered  to  her  when  called  on  to  take  part  in 
the  French  government.^ 

There  is  no  need  to  inquire  into  Calvin's  denial  of  having 
denounced  Servetus  to  the  Catholic  authorities  smne  years 
previously.  It  may  have  been  a  groundless  suspicion  on  the 
part  of  Servetus ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  information  had 
not  been  lodged  against  him,  from  some  quarter  or  another, 
merely  because  he  lived  securely  at  Vienne  for  three  or  four 
years  afterward.  Yet  an  argument  has  been  based  on  this 
last  circumstance  by  Armand  de  la  Chapelle^  and  others,  to 
prove  that  Calvin  had  nothing  to  do  with  his  persecution  at 
Vienne  even  in  1553.  It  is  said  that  Calvin  had  all  the 
documents  in  his  possession  long  before    that  period  ;  and, 

^  Refutatio  Serveti,  Opera,  viii.,  517,  A.,  Amst.  ed. 

■■*  "  Q,uant  au  serment  qu'on  vous  a  contraiiite  de  faire,  comme  vous  avez 
failli  et  offense  Dieu  en  le  faisant,  aussi  n'  estes  vous  tenue  de  le  garder, 
non  plus  qu'un  vogu  de  superstition." — Ruchat,  vii.,  App.,  p.  379.  These 
reservations  became  characteristic  of  the  Puritans.  See  Dr.  Maitland's 
Essays  on  the  Reformation,  Essays  i.  and  ii. 

^  Bihliotliegue  Rai!ionv6e,  i.,  390. 


302  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN 

from  his  not  having  used  them  at  once,  it  is  inferred  that 
he  never  did  so  at  all.  The'  obvious  answer  to  this  is,  that 
Servetus  had  not  printed  his  book  till  1553.  This  was  an  overt 
act,  and  furnished  something  tangible  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
authorities,  who  would  have  looked  with  suspicion  on  mere 
manuscript  evidence,  furnished  by  a  man  whom  they  con- 
sidered to  be  a  great  heretic  himself  But  though  this  argu- 
ment from  probability  was  a  somewhat  plausible  one  in  the 
hands  of  Armand  de  la  Chapelle,  who  wrote  before  Trie's 
letters  were  published,  one  is  surprised  to  see  it  repeated  by 
Dr.  P.  Henry  ;^  since  it  is  entirely  demolished  by  the  second 
of  those  letters. 

In  Calvin's  denial  of  this  imputation  just  quoted,  we  can 
not  help  being  struck  by  the  very  summary  way  in  which  he 
disposes  of  it ;  and  by  the  haste  with  which  he  passes  over 
the  recent  charge,  and  addresses  himself  to  another  of  the 
same  kind  made  four  years  previously :  a  proceeding  which 
has  all  the  appearance  of  being  designed  to  put  the  reader  on  a 
false  scent,  and  to  divert  his  attention  from  a  charge  that  was 
true,  to  another,  which  might  have  been  groundless  or  difficult 
of  proof  Nor,  after  the  discrepancies  already  pointed  out 
between  some  of  the  statements  made  in  this  tract,  and  Cal- 
vin's correspondence,  can  we  be  required  to  place  implicit 
confidence  in  all  his  assertions,  or  be  at  once  silenced  by  an 
appeal  to  character. 

Such  are  the  facts  of  this  extraordinary  case.  Was  Cal- 
vin's conduct  in  it  guided  solely  by  zeal  for  God's  honor  and 
the  welfare  of  the  church  ?  Or  was  he  partly  influenced  by 
feelings  of  a  more  personal  kind  ?  In  considering  these  ques- 
tions we  must  not  leave  out  of  sight  Calvin's  irritable  pride, 
which  the  reader  has  already  seen  in  more  than  one  instance, 
and  the  wounds  it  had  received  from  the  attacks  of  Servetus. 
The  latter's  book  on  the  "Restitution  of  Christianity  "  was 
not  worse  than  his  previous  one  on  the  "  Trinity,"  for  which 
Bucer  had  declared  that  he  merited  a  terrible  death.  Yet 
we  find  Calvin  corresponding  with  him  on  terms  of  tolerable 
courtesy  long  after  the  publication  of  the  latter ;  and  sud- 
denly breaking  off  all  communication,  and  expressing  a  desire 
to  put  him  to  death,  only  when  the  correspondence  became 
angry  and  personal.  The  abuse  of  Calvin  is  one  of  the 
charges  against  Servetus  in  his  indictment  at  Geneva  ;  and 
the  former  declares  in  more  than  one  place  that  Servetus 

^  Leben  Calvins,  iii.,  140,  note. 


CALVIN'S  DEFENSE  UNSATISFACTORY.  306 

might  have  saved  his  life  had  it  not  been  for  his  pride.^ 
His  offense  against  God,  then,  might  have  been  overlooked, 
but  not  his  manner  of  maintaining  it  against  man.  Will  it 
be  said  Calvin  merely  means  that  his  crime  was  aggravated 
by  the  obstinate  pride  with  which  he  refused  to  retract  his 
blasphemies,  and  thus  became  worthy  of  capital  punishment  ? 
This  solution  has  been  alluded  to  by  Mosheim  as  a  possible 
one ;  but  it  seems  completely  cut  off',  not  only  by  Calvin's 
letter  to  Farel  in  February,  1546,  but  also  by  another  to  the 
same  person  on  the  20th  of  August,  1553,  which  has  been 
already  cited ;  in  which  he  desires  the  death  of  Servetus, 
though  he  had  been  captured  only  a  week  ;  at  which  time 
Calvin  could  not  certainly  tell  whether  he  would  retract  or 
not.  But  perhaps  the  most  suspicious  circumstance  in  the 
case  is  the  hesitation  with  which  Calvin  furnished  the  neces- 
sary documents  to  the  authorities  of  Vienne.  Dr.  Henry  says 
that  he  was  hesitating  between  the  principles  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments.  Whether  he  was  not  rather  hesitating 
between  the  abandonment  of  a  great  principle,  and  the  grati- 
fication of  private  revenge,  must  be  left  to  the  reader,  or  rather 
to  the  Searcher  of  all  hearts. 

Calvin's  defense  of  his  conduct  pleased  neither  himself,  nor 
his  friends  ;  which  is  not  much  to  be  wondered  at.  Zerkinta 
(Zur-Kinden),  the  state  secretary  at  Berne,  and  a  friend  of 
Calvin's  objected  to  it  on  account  of  its  principles.  In  a  let- 
ter to  Calvin,  dated  the  10th  of  February,  1554,  he  says  : 
"  I  wish  the  former  part  of  your  book,  respecting  the  right 
which  the  magistrate  may  have  to  use  the  sword  in  coercing 
heretics,  had  not  appeared  in  your  name,  but  in  that  of  your 
council,  which  might  have  been  left  to  defend  its  own  act. 
I  do  not  see  how  you  can  find  any  favor  with  men  of  sedate 
mind  in  being  the  first  formally  to  treat  this  subject,  which  is 
a  hateful  one  to  almost  all.*  Bullinger's  objections  were  con- 
fined to  the  manner  in  which  the  subject  had  been  handled. 
Writing  to  Calvin  on  the  26th  of  March,  1554,  he  says  :  "  I 
only  fear  that  your  book  will  not  be  so  acceptable  to  many  of 
the  more  simple-minded  persons,  who,  nevertheless,  are  much 
attached  both  to  yourself  and  to  the  truth,  by  reason  of  its 
brevity,  and  consequent  obscurity,  and  the  weightiness  of  the 

*  See  the  passage  quoted  above  from  liis  tract  against  Servetus  (p.  303, 
note) ;  and  compare  the  Responsio  ad  Balduini  Cortvicia,  where  Calvin 
says  :  "  Certe  arrogantia  non  minus  quam  impietas  perdidit  hominem."— 
Opera,  viii.,  319,  B. 

2  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  238,  note. 

'   /i  .Aid*  MM  m  tmm  mm  u^   <»- 


304  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

subject.  And,  indeed,  your  style  appears  somewhat  pei- 
plexed,  especially  in  this  work."^ 

There  is  extant  in  the  Zurich  archives  a  letter  of  Calvin's 
apparently  in  answer  to  this  of  Bullinger's  ;  from  which,  as  it 
throws  some  light  on  the  general  feeling  in  this  matter,  we 
give  the  following  extract  :^  "I  always  feared  that  some  ob- 
scurity would  arise  from  the  brevity  of  my  tract ;  but  this  I 
could  not  guard  against,  or,  rather,  I  was  induced  by  other 
reasons  not  to  guard  against  it.  It  seemed  to  me  that  my 
chief,  if  not  my  only  object,  should  be  to  make  the  impiety 
of  Servetus  appear  in  a  detestable  light.  Had  I  handled  the 
topics  of  my  dissertation  in  a  complete  and  perfect  manner  I 
should  have  been  suspected  of  the  sly  purpose  of  overwhelm- 
ing, by  a  splendid  treatise,  dogmas  which,  after  all,  were  not 
so  very  impious.  I  do  not,  myself,  perceive  that  weightiness 
of  style  which  you  remark.  On  the  contrary,  I  used  my  best 
endeavors  that,  so  far  as  possible,  even  the  unlearned  reader 
might,  without  much  trouble,  behold  the  thorny  subtleties  of 
Servetus  made  smooth  and  plain.  At  the  same  time  I  am 
aware  that  I  have  been  more  concise  than  usual  in  this  treat- 
ise.^ However,  if  I  should  appear  to  have  faithfully  and  hon- 
estly defended  the  true  doctrine,  it  will  more  than  recompense 
me  for  my  trouble.  But  though  the  candor  and  justice  which 
are  natural  to  you,  as  well  as  the  love  you  bear  me,  lead  you 
to  judge  of  me  favorably,  there  are  others  who  assail  me 
harshly  as  a  master  in  cruelty  and  atrocity,  for  attacking 
with  my  pen  not  only  a  dead  man,  but  one  who  perished  by 
my  hands.  Some,  even  not  ill-disposed  toward  me,  wish  that 
I  had  never  entered  on  the  subject  of  the  punishment  of  her- 
etics, and  say  that  others  in  the  like  situation  have  held  their 
tongues,  as  the  best  way  of  avoiding  hatred.  It  is  well,  how- 
ever, that  I  have  you  to  share  my  fault,  if  fault  it  be ;  for 
you  it  was  who  advised  and  persuaded  me  to  it.  Prepare 
yourself,  therefore,  for  the  combat." 

Calvin's  book  naturally  called  forth  some  replies.  In  the 
same  year  appeared  the  "  Dialogues  between  Calvin  and 
Vaticanus;"*  in  which  Calvin's  propositions  respecting  the 
punishment  of  heretics  are  first  set  down  with  his  name 
over   them,  and   then  the   author's   answers,  with  the  title 

i  Original  Letters  (Parker  Society),  Part  ii.,  p.  744. 

2  The  letter  is  printed  at  length  by  Dr.  Henry  in  the  Beilagen  to  his 
third  volume,  p.  86,  et  seq.     It  is  dated  April  29th,  1554. 

3  Bullinger's  objections  to  the  style  seem  certainly  unfounded, 

*  The  proper  title  is,  "  Contra  Libellum  Calvini,  iii  quo  ostendere  conatur 
Hareticos  jure  Gladii  coercendos  esse." 


REPLIES  TO  CALVIN'S  BOOK.  305 

of  ''Vaticanus''  prefixed.  It  follows  Calvin's  arrangement 
throughout,  and  refutes  him  step  by  step.  The  author  is 
very  severe  upon  Calvin,  whom  he  assails  not  only  for  his 
life,  his  doctrine  of  predestination,  &c.,  but  even  for  his  learn- 
ing, which  he  seems  to  have  considered  unapostolical.  He 
does  not  excuse  the  doctrines  of  Servetus,  but  defends  him 
from  the  charge  of  blasphemy  on  the  ground  that  his  attacks 
were  not  directed  against  the  Deity,  but  against  men's  opin- 
ions of  him.^  Another  answer  came  out  under  the  pseudonym 
of  Martinus  Bellius,  and  with  the  title  "jDe  Hcereticis  an 
sint  persequendi,""  but  which  afterward  obtained  the  name 
of  the  "  Farrago.'"  It  consisted  of  passages,  selected  from 
the  writings  of  the  Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century,  con- 
demning capital  punishment  in  cases  of  heresy.  This  book 
was  received  with  great  applause,  and  went  through  several 
editions  in  a  short  time ;  in  the  later  of  which  the  opinions 
of  the  ancient  Fathers  of  the  Church  on  the  same  subject 
were  added. ^  Beza  unhesitatingly  ascribes  the  authorship  of 
it  to  Castellio  and  Leelius  Socinus  jointly,  though  the  former 
denied  it  upon  oath.^  The  work  of  Minus  Celsus,  already 
alluded  to,  was  also  composed  in  1554,  but  it  did  not  appear 
till  1577,  and,  consequently,  long  after  Calvin's  death.  Un- 
like the  controversial  works  of  the  age,  it  is  written  with  great 
politeness,  in  a  mild  and  quiet  tone,  breathing  the  true  spirit 
of  the  gospel.  Though  Calvin's  principles  are  opposed,  he  is 
treated  with  deference  throughout.  The  author  was  induced 
to  write  it  from  perceiving  that  many  who  had  been  eye-wit- 
nesses of  the  death  of  Servetus  were  led  by  the  constancy  he 
displayed  to  think  that  his  principles  were  true,  and  thus  to 
fall  away  from  the  church.^ 

Calvin  did  not  again  enter  the  Usts  on  this  question,  of 
which  he  seems  to  have  been  heartily  tired,  but  handed  over 
his  antagonists  to  Beza.  In  1554  Zanchi  also  published  a 
tract,  in  which  Calvin's  views  were  defended.  But  the  lat- 
ter's  conduct  had  drawn  down  upon  him  a  very  bitter  hatred, 
which  went  on  increasing.  Hotoman,  writing  to  Bullinger 
from  Basle,  27th  of  Sept.,  1555,  says  :  "Calvin  is  no  better 
spoken  of  here  than  at  Paris.  If  any  one  wants  to  blame  an- 
other for  perjury  or  immorality,  he  calls  him  a  Calvinist.  He 
is  attacked  in  all  quarters  most  savagely  and  importunately."  * 

1  See  P.  Henry,  Leben  Calvins,  iii.,  Beil.  p.  94. 

2  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Servets,  B.  ii.,  note  11. 

3  Vita  Calv.,  sub  annis  1554  et  1549.     M.  Crie  attributes  it  to  Socinus. 
See  Ref.  in  Italy,  p.  388,  note. 

*  Leben  Calvim,  iii.,  237.  »  Ibid.,  p.  239. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Affair  of  Berthelier — Calvin  refuses  to  administer  the  Lord's  Supper — 
duestion  of  Excommunication — Truce  with  the  Libertines — Libel  upon 
Calvin — His  Unpopularity — Disputes  with  the  Bernese  Clergy — Calvin 
visits  Berne — Banishment  of  Bolsec — Further  Struggles  with  the  Liber- 
tines— The  Consistory's  power  of  Excommunication  confirmed — dues- 
tion of  Citizenship — Riots — The  Libertines  discomfited — Sentence  upon 
them. 

We  must  now  return  to  the  civil  affairs  of  Geneva,  and 
the  struggles  of  Calvin  with  the  Libertine,  or  Patriot  party, 
during  the  course  of  this  and  the  two  following  years. 

It  will  he  recollected  that  Calvin's  opponents  had  for  a  con- 
siderable period  been  gaining  strength  ;  and  this  they  employ- 
ed in  extorting  from  him  and  the  refugees  certain  privileges 
which  they  had  hitherto  enjoyed.  In  March,  1553,  the  min- 
isters were  excluded  from  the  general  council,  or  assembly  of 
the  people,^  and  shortly  afterward  the  refugees  were  forbidden 
to  carry  arms.  The  affair  of  Servetus  tended  on  the  whole 
to  strengthen  the  Libertines  ;  though,  as  we  have  seen,  that 
heretic  relied  with  a  too  fatal  confidence  on  the  power  of  that 
party  to  save  him.  The  season  of  his  imprisonment  and  trial 
was  deemed  a  favorable  opportmiity  for  making  an  assault 
upon  the  spiritual  authority  of  Calvin  and  the  consistory. 
The  person  put  forward  for  this  purpose  was  Philibert  Berthe- 
lier, who  was  now  sitting  as  one  of  Servetus's  judges,  and  was 
the  son  of  that  Berthelier  who,  in  1518,  had  been  beheaded 
for  the  part  he  had  taken  in  favor  of  the  freedom  of  Geneva.^ 
Calvin  has  given  an  account  of  this  affair  in  a  letter  to  Viret,'^ 
from  which  we  learn  that  Berthelier  had  been  excluded  from 
the  communion  a  year  and  a  half  before,"*  on  which  occasion 

1  "  Arrete  que  les  ministres  seront  dispenses  de  se  rencontrer  au  Conseil 
General,  mais  que  leurs  enfans  pourront  y  aller." — Rigistres,  16  Mars,  1553. 
Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographiques. 

2  Ruchat.  vi.,  37.  _  _  3  Ep.  154,  Sept.  4th,  1553. 

*  "P.  Berthelier  se  plaint  au  Conseil  que  le  Consistoire  lui  a  defendu  la 
cene  pour  n'avoir  pas  voula  convenir  qu'il  avoit  fait  mal  de  soutenir  qu'il 
etoit  aussi  homme  de  bien  que  Calvin." — Rigistres,  27  Mars,  1552,  Grenus, 
Fragmens  Biographiques,  who,  however,  puts  this  entry  in  1551 ;  while  P. 
Henry  (iii.,  359)  gives  the  date  of  1553.  Both  Spon  (ii.,  70),  however,  and 
Ruchat  (vi.,  37),  correctly  write  1552 ;  which  date  agrees  with  Calvin's  ex- 
pression, "  ante  sesquiannum," 


AFFAIR  OF  BERTHELIBR.  307 

Calvin,  on  the  complaint  of  Berthelier,  had  been  summoned 
before  the  council,  "  on  account  of  the  scoundrel,"  as  he  terms 
it ;  but  after  hearing  the  case  that  body  decided  in  Calvin's  fa- 
vor, and  ratified  the  sentence  of  excommunication  pronounced 
by  the  consistory.  Under  this  ban  Berthelier  had  quietly  lain 
till  the  present  time,  either,  says  Calvin,  out  of  despair,  or  con- 
tempt ;  but  he  was  unwilling  to  let  the  opportunity  of  Perrin's 
syndicate  slip,  without  an  attempt  to  regain  his  rights ;  and 
with  this  view  he  now  moved  the  council  that  they  should,  of 
their  own  proper  authority,  and  without  consulting  the  con- 
sistory, release  him  from  the  sentence  of  the  latter  tribunal, 
and  restore  him  to  the  church.  Before  taking  any  step  in  the 
matter,  the  council  summoned  Calvin  before  them,  without 
his  colleagues ;  on  which  occasion  he  pointed  out,  in  a  long 
speech,  that  they  could  not  lawfully  assume  the  power  of 
abrogating  Berthelier's  sentence  ;  and  that  it  would  be  ex- 
ceedingly unjust  and  improper  to  undermine  the  discipline  of 
the  church  by  such  a  proceeding.  On  a  subsequent  occasion 
Calvin  assembled  all  the  ministers,  both  those  of  the  town 
and  those  of  the  rural  districts,  and  putting  himself  at  their 
head,  appeared  before  the  council.  He  again  employed  argu- 
ments, threats,  and  entreaties ;  and  the  ministers  severally 
represented  that,  if  such  proceedings  were  allowed,  they  should 
be  forced  to  abandon  their  church  and  ministry.^  But  all  these 
efforts  served  only  to  raise  the  fury  of  Calvin's  adversaries  to  a 
higher  pitch.  They  exclaimed  that  the  consistory  wanted  to 
usurp  the  functions  that  belonged  to  the  civil  power,  and  de- 
manded that  the  matter  should  be  referred  to  the  council  of 
Two  Hundred.  That  body,  on  the  matter  being  brought  be- 
fore them,  decided  that  the  ordinary  council  had  the  power 
of  receiving  such  complaints  as  Berthelier's,  and  of  absolving 
whom  they  thought  proper  from  ecclesiastical  censures  ;  and, 
in  conformity  with  this  decision,  Berthelier  obtained  absolu- 
tory letters  signed  with  the  seal  of  the  republic. 

Perrin  now  thought  that  the  moment  of  his  triumph  was 
at  hand.  Either  Calvin,  he  reasoned,  would  oppose  this  pro- 
ceeding of  the  council's,  and  he  might  thereupon  get  him  con- 
demned as  a  rebel ;  or  if,  on  the  other  hand,  he  should  bow  to 
their  decision,  the  power  of  the  consistory  was  gone  forever.^ 
But  this  opinion  was  founded  on  a  wrong  estimate  of  Calvin's 
character.  It  was  on  a  Friday  that  Calvin  first  heard  of  the 
absolution  of  Berthelier  by  the  council ;  and  the  following 
Sunday  was  the  first  Sabbath  in  September,  when,  according 
*  Ruchat,  I.e.  3  Beza,  Vita  Calv. 


e08  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

to  a  custom  universally  observed  in  the  Reformed  churches, 
the  Lord's  Supper  was  to  be  celebrated.  On  the  interveninjz 
Saturday  Calvin  made  one  more  effort  to  persuade  the  coun- 
cil to  alter  their  determination,  and  protested  that  he  would 
rather  die  than  profane  the  sacrament  by  administering  it  to 
an  excommunicated  person.^  The  council,  however,  remain- 
ed firm  in  their  resolution,  and  Calvin  was  not  long  in  deciding 
upon  his  own  line  of  conduct.  The  decisive  Sunday  arrived. 
Calvin  mounted  the  pulpit  as  u-sual ;  and  after  descanting  on 
the  veneration  due  to  the  holy  mysteries  of  God,  and  inveigh- 
ing against  their  contemners,  he  raised  his  voice  as  he  ap- 
proached the  conclusion  of  his  discourse,  and  declared  that, 
after  the  example  of  St.  Chrysostom,  he  would  never  admin- 
ister the  supper  to  the  excommunicate ;  and  that  if  there 
were  any  among  them  who  would  extort  by  force  the  bread 
of  the  Lord,  on  his  head  be  the  consequence.  Then,  lifting 
up  his  hands  on  high,  he  exclaimed  :  "  I  will  lay  down  my 
life  ere  these  hands  shall  reach  forth  the  holy  things  of  God 
to  those  who  have  been  branded  as  his  revilers." 

Perrin  was  present,  who  seems  to  have  always  possessed  a 
decent  feeling  of  religion,  and  indeed  some  respect  for  Calvin's 
character.  These  words  made  such  an  impression  upon  him 
that  he  secretly  sent  a  message  to  Berthelier,  not  to  approach 
the  table ;  and  the  communion  was  celebrated  in  profound 
silence,  a  sort  of  awe  pervading  the  assembly,  as  if,  says  Beza, 
the  Deity  liimself  were  present.  In  the  afternoon  Calvin 
preached  another  sermon,  taking  his  text  from  Acts,  chap. 
XX  :  "  Therefore  watch,  and  remember  that  by  the  space  of 
three  years  I  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one  night  and  day  with 
tears.  And  now,  brethren,  I  commend  you  to  God,  and  to 
the  word  of  His  grace."  In  the  course  of  it  he  declared  that 
he  was  not  the  man  to  resist  the  constituted  authorities,  nor 
to  teach  others  to  do  so ;  he  exhorted  the  congregation  to 
abide  in  the  doctrine  which  he  had  taught ;  and  declared  that 
he  should  be  always  ready  to  serve  the  church  and  each  of  its 
members.  "  But,"  he  added,  "  such  is  the  state  of  things 
here,  that  this  may  perhaps  be  the  last  time  I  shall  teach 
God's  word  to  you ;  since  they  with  whom  lies  the  power 
would  force  me  to  do  a  thing  which  God  permits  not,  I  must, 
therefore,  say,  like  Paul  to  the  elders  of  Ephesus,  dearly  be- 
loved, I  commend  you  to  the  grace  of  God."^ 

i  E-uchat,  vi.,  38. 

2  Beza.  Ruchat,  vi.,  39.  This  sermon  was  taken  down  by  a  short-band 
writer,  and  put  into  Latin  by  Beza.    See  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  1G2. 


FAREL  ACCUSED.  309 

But  though  Calvin  talked  of  leaving  his  flock,  he  was  not 
the  man  to  give  up  such  a  cause  without  a. struggle.  On  the 
following  morning,  accompanied  by  the  rest  of  the  pastors,  and 
by  the  lay  members  of  the  consistory,  he  appeared  before  the 
council,  and  subsequently  before  the  Two  Hundred,  to  beg 
that,  as  a  law  was  in  question  which  had  been  sanctioned  by 
the  general  assembly  of  the  people,  he  might  now  be  heard 
before  that  body.  Thus  circumstances  often  strangely  alter 
men's  opinions ;  and  we  here  find  Calvin,  when  he  saw  him- 
self and  his  cause  threatened  with  ruin,  appealing  to  those 
very  popular  institutions  whose  power  it  had  previously  been 
one  of  his  chief  objects  to  curtail.  Calvin's  request  was  not 
granted,  yet  a  very  different  state  of  feeling  was  exhibited. 
It  was  resolved  to  suspend  the  decree  by  which  the  power  of 
excommunication  had  been  declared  to  reside  with  the  ordinary 
council,  and  to  request  the  opinion  of  the. four  Swiss  cities  on 
the  matter ;  and  in  the  mean  time  it  was  proclaimed  that  the 
established  laws  ought  not  to  be  violated.^ 

Thus,  though  the  point  was  left  still  undecided,  Calvin's 
energy  of  purpose  bore  him  for  the  time  safely  through  the 
storm.  Every  thing,  indeed,  that  he  had  been  so  long  con- 
tending for,  depended  on  the  issue  of  the  struggle  ;  for  if  the 
consistory  should  be  deprived  of  the  right  of  excommunication, 
he  would  lose  the  main  instrument  of  his  power.  That  under 
such  circumstances  he  would  have  consented  to  remain  at 
Geneva  may  well  be  doubted ;  and  his  threat  of  leaving  it 
seems  to  have  been  no  idle  one.  In  a  letter  to  Buliinger  he 
communicated  his  determination  to  do  so  ;  and  Buliinger  in 
his  reply  earnestly  entreated  him  to  remain.^  In  another  let- 
ter to  the  same  pastor,  written  in  the  following  November,  he 
represents  these  attacks  upon  him  as  a  sort  of  trap  laid  by  his 
enemies,  who  knew  the  irritabiUty  of  his  temper,  and  thought 
that,  by  outraging  his  patience,  they  should  succeed  in  driving 
him  to  some  fatal  and  irrevocable  step.^ 

In  the  following  November  the  Libertines  endeavored  to 
get  up  another  tumult,  of  which  Farel  was  the  subject.  Im- 
mediately after  the  execution  of  Servetus,  Farel  had  left  Gen- 
eva ;  but  learning  the  turbulent  proceedings  which  were  taking 
place  there,  he  hastened  back  a  few  days  afterward,  to  support 

1  Beza,  Vita  Calv. 

a  See  Ep.  157,  Sept.  14th,  1553. 

^  "  Wicked  men,  knowing  my  irritability,  have  endeavored  to  exhaust 
my  patience  by  frequently  exciting  my  anger  in  various  ways.  But  though 
the  struggle  was  a  difficult  one,  they  have  not  succeeded  in  diverting  me  from 
my  path,  as  they  desired." — Ep.  162. 


310  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Calvin,  and  to  overawe  the  malcontents  by  his  authority  and 
eloquence/  He  accordingly  mounted  the  pulpit,  and,  after 
preaching  a  povi^erful  sermon  against  the  Libertine  faction, 
again  quitted  Geneva  abruptly.  That  party  chose  to  regard 
his  discourse  as  an  insult  pubhcly  offered  to  the  state ;  and 
instigated  the  council  to  apply  to  the  magistrates  of  Neufchatel 
to  send  him  back  to  take  his  trial  for  the  offense,  which  they 
seem  to  have  made  nothing  less  than  capital.^  Notwithstand- 
ing the  serious  nature  of  the  penalty,  Calvin,  who  was  proba- 
bly aware  that  his  adversaries  could  not  possibly  succeed  in  so 
outrageous  a  proceeding,  wrote  to  Farel,  advising  him  to  come 
and  take  his  trial  at  Geneva,  in  preference  to  waiting  till  pro- 
ceedings should  be  instituted  against  him  at  Neufchatel.^ 
Farel  accordingly  set  off,  on  foot,  and  in  wintry  weather.  His 
arrival  created  great  disturbance.  The  council  sent  an  officer 
to  Calvin  to  say  that  Farel  would  not  be  allowed  to  mount 
the  pulpit.^  To  tell  a  man,  however,  who  was  come  to  plead 
to  a  capital  indictment,  that  he  was  not  to  preach  a  sermon, 
does  not  argue  that  his  life  was  in  any  great  danger.  Berthe- 
lier,  however,  endeavored  to  raise  a  disturbance,  by  getting  the 
laborers  in  the  mint,  who  were  under  his  orders,  to  go  to  the 
Guildhall,  and  make  a  demonstration  against  Farel;*  and  it 
was  probably  from  this  band  that  the  cry  arose,  which  Beza 
mentions,  to  fling  Farel  into  the  Rhone.  On  the  other  hand, 
Farel's  friends  began  to  assemble.  The  Genevese  ministers 
met,  and  represented  to  the  council  the  evil  views  of  Farel's 
enemies.  Many  of  the  townspeople  assembled,  and  formed  a 
guard  round  the  person  of  their  former  pastor.  Before  the  coun- 
cil Farel  contended,  in  a  long  and  animated  speech,  that  his 
adversaries  could  not  have  been  present  at  his  sermon,  for  that 
he  had  said  no  more  than  what  became  his  sacred  office  ;  and 
declared  that  nothing  was  farther  from  his  thoughts  than  to 
insult  a  city  toward  which,  as  all  men  knew,  he  entertained 
the  kindest  feelings.  This  speech  had  a  great  effect  upon  the 
council,  as  well  as  upon  the  numerous  audience  which  had 
penetrated  into  the  council-chamber.  Even  those  who  had 
accused  Farel  declared  that  they  held  him  to  be  a  faithful 
minister  of  the  gospel,  and  their  spiritual  father.     On  perceiv- 

^  Kirchhofer,  Lehen  Far  els,  ii.,  119. 

2  "  When  our  brother  Farel  was  here  lately,  to  whom,  as  you  well  know, 
our  people  owe  every  thing,  and  freely  admonished  them,  as  he  was  well 
entitled  to  do,  they  burst  out  into  such  a  rage  against  him  as  not  to  scruple 
at  capitally  indicting  him," — Calvin  to  the  Ministers  of  Zurich,  Ep.  165,  Nov 
26th,  1553. 

3  See  Calvin's  letter  to  Farel,  MS.  Gen.,  cited  by  P.  Henry,  iii.,  364,  note. 
*  Calvin,  Ep.  165.  s  Kirchhoter,  ii.,  120. 


QUESTION  OF  EXCOMMUNICATION.  31! 

ing  this  feeling  the  council  decreed  that  his  accusers  should 
shake  hands  with  him,  and  that  all  animosity  should  be  oblit- 
erated by  a  banquet.^  Perrin,  the  chief  syndic,  begged  pardon 
of  Farel,  declared  that  he  was  under  obligations  to  him,  and 
should  ever  consider  him  as  his  father  and  pastor.  The  rest 
did  the  like  ;  but  all  this,  says  the  old  chronicler  Savion,  was 
pure  grimace.  Perrin  saw  that  his  hands  were  not  strong 
enough.'^ 

The  question  respecting  excommunication  still  continued  to 
be  agitated ;  and  on  the  30th  of  November  the  Genevese  council 
sent  to  learn  the  opinion  of  the  four  Swiss  cantons,  as  had  been 
before  resolved.  The  three  questions  proposed  to  them  were : 
1st,  How  excommunication  should  be  exercised,  in  conformity 
with  the  precepts  of  Scripture  ;  2d,  If  it  could  not  be  exercised 
otherwise  than  by  the  consistory  ;  and  3d,  What  was  the  cus- 
tom of  their  churches  on  this  point.^  Previously,  however, 
Calvin  thought  it  expedient  to  dispatch  Bude,  a  son  of  Budseus 
the  illustrious  Greek  scholar,  as  a  special  messenger  to  Bul- 
linger,  to  put  him  in  possession  of  the  whole  matter,  and  to 
dispone  him  to  a  favorable  opinion  on  the  question  about  to  be 
submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  Zurich  government.  In  the 
letter  which  he  sent  at  the  same  time,"*  he  intimated  his  desire 
that  the  council  of  Zurich  should  unambiguously  approve  of 
the  discipline  established  at  Geneva,  and  dissuade  the  Gene- 
vese from  the  desire  of  change  ;  and  he  accompanied  this 
private  letter  with  another  of  the  same  date,  addressed  to  the 
Zurich  ministers,  to  induce  them  to  exert  their  influence  with 
their  council.^  In  this,  after  a  short  preface,  and  an  apology 
for  troubling  them  again  so  soon,  he  related  the  case  of  Berthe- 
lier,  whom  he  represented  as  put  forward  by  the  same  fac- 
tion that  had  undertaken  the  defense  of  Servetus.  He  stated 
that  the  question  at  issue  concerned  church  discipline  and  the 
right  of  excommunication,  respecting  which  he  entered  into 
some  arguments  :  he  represented  the  matter  as  of  the  utmost 
importance,  and  as  having  tiow  arrived  at  a  crisis  ;  and  showed 
the  violent  and  factious  temper  of  his  adversaries,  by  relating 
the  case  of  Farel.  These  letters  he  accompanied  with  two 
other  documents,  consisting  of  an  extract  from  the  laws  of  the 

^  "  Ceiix  qui  s'  etaient  plaints  de  Farel  declarerent  tous  qu'ils  le  tenoient 
pour  un  fidele  ministre  du  St.  Evangile  et  pour  leur  pero  spirituel ;  sur  quoi 
le  Conseil  ordonna  que  chacun  lui  touchat  la  main,  et  qu  il  se  fit  un  repas  de 
reconciliation."  —  Rigistres,  13  Nov.,  1553.  Grenus,  Fragmens  Biography 
iqnes.     Kirchhofer,  1.  c. 

2  See  Ruchat,  vi„  63.  3  Ibid. 

*  Ep.  164,  Nov.  26th,  1553.  5  gp.  165. 


312  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Genevese  consistory,^  and  a  memorial  which  the  ministers  of 
Geneva  had  presented  to  the  council  to  explain  their  conduct, 
and  to  show  that  they  could  not  conscientiously  submit  to  its 
decision. 

Bullinger  answered  these  letters  on  the  12th  of  December.' 
From  his  reply  it  appears  that  they  were  read  in  full  council 
at  Zurich,  and  that  the  burgomaster,  and  three  of  the  coun- 
cilors, were  deputed  to  take  the  advice  of  three  prudent  min- 
isters as  to  an  answer.  The  latter  advised  an  approval  of  the 
method  of  excommunication  exercised  by  the  church  of  Gen- 
eva ;  for  though  that  used  at  Zurich  was  not  of  the  same 
nature,  they  considered  that  both  methods  were  adapted  to 
the  respective  circumstances  of  the  two  cities.  Bullinger 
inclosed  an  epitome  of  the  discipline  observed  at  Zurich  ;  and 
in  a  postscript,  dated  on  the  13th  of  December,  announced 
that  the  council  of  Zurich  had  coincided  in  the  views  just 
stated.  But  though  he  had  thus  exerted  himself  in  Calvin's 
cause,  it  appears,  from  some  expressions  in  his  letter,  that  he 
suspected  him  of  being  too  hasty  and  intemperate,  and  ad- 
monished him  against  undue  severity.' 

The  magistrates  of  Berne  replied  shortly,  that  they  had  no 
excommunication  in  their  church,  but  certain  ordinances,  of 
which  they  forwarded  a  copy.  The  replies  of  the  two  other 
cantons  are  not  extant,  but  they  appear  to  have  allowed  of 
the  Genevan  discipline.^  Bullinger  also  sent  with  his  letter 
an  abstract  of  the  Zurich  laws  respecting  adultery,  from 
which  it  appears  that  it  was  punished  there  by  exclusion 
from  the  communion,  and  from  all  posts  of  honor,  with  three 
days'  imprisonment,  and  if  there  was  no  amendment,  with 
banishment.^  The  Swiss  laws  were,  therefore,  considerably 
milder  than  those  instituted  by  Calvin.  Indeed,  they  appear 
to  have  been  too  lax  in  this  article  ;  for,  from  the  synodal  acts 
of  1537,  we  learn  that  one  of  the  Zurich  clergy,  Fridolin  Kel- 
ler, the  pastor  of  Regenspurg,  who  had  been  deposed  for  that 
crime  before  Easter,  was  restored  to  his  functions  in  the  course 
of  the  same  year.  The  same  document  contains  frequent  evi- 
dence of  the  disorders  and  extravagance  of  the  Zurich  clergy.^ 

I  See  Ep.  167.  2  Ep.  166. 

3  "We  exhort  you  to  continue  faithful  to  the  Lord,,  and  to  observe  mod- 
eration in  all  things,  lest  by  too  much  rigor  you  should  destroy  those  whom 
the  Loi-d  wishes  to  be  preserved ;  who  doth  not  break  the  shattered  reed, 
nor  extinguish  the  smoking  flax." — Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  166. 

*  Ruchat,  vi.,  68. 

5  P.  Henry,  iii.,  367,  note. 

»  See  Seltzer,  Die  drei  letzten  Jahrkunderie  der  Schiceitzergeschichte, 
lOte  Vorlesung,  i.,  152. 


A  TRUCE  WITH  THE  LIBERTINES.  313 

The  answers  of  the  Swiss  cantons  produced  but  little  im- 
mediate effect.*  On  the  31st  of  December,  1554,^  we  find 
Calvin  writing  to  BuUinger  :  "  I  have  to  deal  with  the  most 
wicked  calumniators,  who  will  involve  me  in  all  manner  of 
strife.  Yet  I  hope  to  carry  off  the  victory,  or  at  all  events  to 
arrive  at  some  tolerable  issue."  ^  Yet,  externally,  every  thing 
wore  the  appearance  of  peace.  On  the  1st  of  January,  1554, 
at  a  grand  dinner  given  to  the  council  and  judges,  at  which 
Calvin  was  present,  a  desire  for  peace  was  universally  ex- 
pressed. The  council  ajjpointed  a  committee  to  examine  into 
differences,  to  hear  the  complaints  of  both  parties,  and  to  heal 
the  divisions,  which  had  extended  even  to  members  of  the 
same  families.  On  the  2d  of  February,  the  council  of  Two 
Hundred,  among  which  body  Calvin's  opponents  were  chiefly 
to  be  found,  swore  with  uplifted  hands  to  conform  in  future 
to  the  precepts  of  the  Reformation,  to  renounce  all  hatred  and 
animosity,  to  forget  the  past,  and  to  live  together  in  unity ; 
at  the  same  time  invoking  the  vengeance  of  God  upon  the 
estates,  persons,  wives,  and  children  of  those  who  should  break 
this  holy  resolution.^  But  notwithstanding  the  solemn  nature 
of  this  reconciliation,  Calvin  appears  to  have  placed  no  reli- 
ance upon  it.  He  considered  it  rather  as  a  truce  made  with 
himself  personally,  than  with  the  consistory ;  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  whose  authority  he  foresaw  that  further  struggles 
awaited  him.  Writing  to  BulHnger,  on  the  23d  of  Febru- 
ary, he  says:  "A  reconciliation  has  at  length  been  necessarily 
effected ;  for  the  council  was  divided  into  open  factions,  and 
hatred  had  so  plainly  manifested  itself,  that  the  wicked  felt 
that  the  vengeance  of  God  was  hanging  over  them.  Yet  the 
well-disposed  have  not  had  the  courage  to  regulate  the  affairs 
of  the  church,  which  are  the  cause  of  all  this  strife.  All  that 
was  done  was  to  shake  hands,  and  take  an  oath  that  none 
hereafter  would  patronize  evil  courses.  By  this,  indeed,  my 
opponents  have  tacitly  read  their  own  condemnation ;  yet, 
under  the  plausible  pretense  of  peace,  the  lawful  order  of  the 
church,  the  sole  guaranty  of  tranquillity,  has  been  neglected, 
or  at  all  events  postponed.     When  called  into  the  council 

1  By  order  of  their  bishop,  in  1305,  the  Genevese  thenceforward  began 
the  year  at  Christmas  instead  of  Easter.  This  was  a  change  from  the 
French  to  the  German  style.  The  French  naopted  the  1st  of  January  in 
1564  ;  and  the  Genevese  followed  their  example  in  1575,  See  Grenus, 
Fragmens  Historiques,  p.  2,  note. 

2  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  367,  note. 

3  Ruchat,  vi.,  115.  Calvin,  Ep.  171.  Dr.  Henry  (1.  c.)  seems  to  have  no 
authority  for  stating  that  this  oath  was  administered  to  the  whole  population. 

O 


314  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

chamber,  I  declared  that  I  forgave  all  who  sincerely  repent- 
ed ;  but  that  I  was  but  one  member  of  the'  consistory,  and 
that  I  would  die  a  hundred  times  over,  rather  than  arrogate 
to  myself  the  functions  of  the  entire  church.  I  perceived 
that  Satan  desired  nothing  more  than  that,  in  this  disturbed 
state  of  things,  he  might  supply  some  fresh  occasion  of  tumult. 
But  I  am  determined  to  be  beforehand  with  him.  And  al- 
though my  enemies  will,  perhaps,  not  be  so  violent  as  for- 
merly, yet  in  a  short  time  I  shall  have  to  contend  with  them 
again."  ^  In  another  letter  of  the  11th  of  the  same  month, 
he  attributes  the  reconciliation  which  had  been  effected  to 
the  artifice  of  his  enemies,  and  expresses  his  determination 
not  to  make  the  slightest  concession  with  regard  to  the  right 
of  excommunication,  'hinting  that,  if  he  can  not  carry  his 
point,  he  shall  leave  Geneva.* 

In  the  summer  of  1554,  an  anonymous  letter  was  received 
by  the  Genevese  council,  containing  charges  of  the  most  fright- 
ful kind  against  Calvin.  The  council  handed  it  over  to  Cal- 
vin, who  suspected  that  it  was  written  by  Castellio ;  and 
wrote  a  letter  communicating  his  suspicions  to  Sulzer,  the 
pastor  at  Basle,  where  Castellio  was  residing.  Sulzer,  in  his 
answer,^  expressed  his  surprise  that  Castellio,  who  appeared 
to  be  so  great  a  lover  of  peace  and  charity,  should  have  been 
the  author  of  such  an  attack,  and  promised  that  he  should  be 
severely  admonished.  In  reply  to  this,  Calvin  says  :  "Cas- 
tellio, believe  me,  is  a  beast  as  virulent  as  he  is  untamed  and 
obstinate.  He  is  a  great  pretender  to  charity,  and  to  modesty 
also,  though  nothing  more  arrogant  can  be  imagined.  He 
and  others  concocted  that  libel,  filled  with  such  atrocious 
imputations,  with  the  design  of  exciting  a  sudden  explosion 
against  me.  They  have,  however,  been  sadly  deceived.  The 
council  gave  it  me  to  read ;  and  it  was  easy  for  me  not  otily 
promptly  to  confute  their  calumnies,  but  even  to  convert  all 
their  odious  charges  to  my  praise."^  Beza,  in  his  "  Life  of 
Calvin,"  attributes  the  libel  to  Bolsec  and  others,  as  well  as 
to  Castellio,  whom  he  represents  as  having  been  instigated  to 
this  step  by  the  Libertine  faction.^  Castellio,  indeed,  was 
always  the  object  of  his  and  Calvin's  suspicions ;  and  this 
circumstance,  as  well  as  the  vagueness  of  a  charge  directed 
against  so  many,  should  make  us  pause  before  we  consider  it 
as  well  founded  on  this  occasion.     Castellio  denied  before  the 

1  Ep.  171.  2  MS.  Tig.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  363,  note. 

3  Calvin,  Epp.  ct  Resp.,  Ep.  174,  July  ]  4tli,  1554. 

*  Ep.  176,  Aug.  7th.  5   Vita  Calv.,  anno  1554. 


CALVIN'S  UNPOPULARITY.  315 

council  at  Basle  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  libel,  which 
Calvin  answered  in  a  short  tract. 

During  this  year  the  council  would  not  allow  Calvin  to 
publish  any  thing  without  their  sanction.  A  book  which  he 
was  preparing — probably  the  ''  Defensio  Sance  et  OrthodoxcB 
Doctrince,  cle  Sacramentis,^'  which  appeared  in  November — 
was  ordered  to  be  submitted  to  the  physician  Beljaquet,  for 
examination.^  Calvin  was  so  offended  at  this  as  to  declare 
that,  if  he  lived  a  thousand  years,  he  would  never  print  any 
thing  more  at  Geneva ;  and  that  he  would  sooner  destroy  what 
had  been  approved  of  by  pious  and  learned  men,  than  give  it 
to  ignorant  dolts  to  nibble  at.^ 

At  this  time  he  could  hardly  walk  the  streets  without  being 
insulted.  Once,  as  he  was  returning  from  St.  Gervais,  where 
he  had  been  preaching,  he  was  attacked  by  some  fellows  on 
the  bridge  of  the  Rhone.  On  his  quietly  observing  that  the 
bridge  was  broad  enough  for  them  all,  the  ruffians  turned 
their  attack  upon  a  French  refugee  who  was  walking  near 
the  spot,  pursued  him  into  his  shop,  and  wounded  him.  A 
cry  was  raised  of  "  Death  to  the  foreigners  I"  A  crowd  soon 
gathered,  swords  were  drawn,  and  blood  spilt.  On  another 
occasion,  when  Calvin  was  proceeding  to  the  lecture-room,  he 
was  publicly  insulted,  and  his  servant  beaten.  Such  scenes 
were  of  daily  occurrence.  It  was  unsafe  for  the  refugees  ta. 
be  in  the  streets  at  night.  Complaints  were  loudly  uttered 
against  Calvin,  and  what  were  called  his  French  laws.  The 
admonitions  of  the  consistory  were  set  at  naught,  and  the 
members  of  it  personally  abused  and  insulted.  One  man  ven- 
tured to  tell  them  that  they  were  more  cruel  than  Satan  him- 
self, but  that  they  should  not  be  so  long.  On  the  other  hand, 
Calvin  hotly  attacked  his  adversaries  from  the  pulpit :  but  the 
council  found  his  heat  untimely,  and  desired  him  to  moderate 
his  zeal.^ 

Besides  having  to  contend  with  his  domestic  enemies,  Cal- 
vin was  at  this  time  involved  in  disputes  with  some  of  the 
Bernese  ministers,  holding  cures  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  on  the 
subject  of  his  doctrine  of  predestination,  and  on  the  right  which 
he  claimed  of  excommunication.  These  ministers,  as  well  as 
many  laymen  of  the  same  district,  were  loud  in  their  abuse  of 
the  Genevese,  and  of  Calvin  in  particular.     Writing  to  Bul- 

1  "On  charge  le  medecin  Beljaquet  d'examiner  un  livre  que  Calvin 
voudrait  faire  imprimer." — Rdgutres,  19  Juillet,  1554.  Grenus,  Fragmens 
Biographiqiics. 

'  Kirchhofor,  ii.,  131.  3  P.  Henry,  ii.,  369. 


316  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

linger  on  the  IStli  of  September,  1554,  Calvin  says:  "Mean- 
while I  am  attacked  by  our  neighbors  in  a  way  which  it  is 
too  little  to  call  atrocious.  The  preachers  in  the  Bernese  ter- 
ritory denounce  me  from  the  pulpit  as  a  heretic  even  worse 
than  the  Papists.  The  more  violently  any  one  assails  me  the 
more  he  is  favored  and  protected ;  meanwhile  I  hold  my  tongue, 
but  God  will  look  down  from  heaven  and  avenge  me."  ^  In 
another  letter,  dated  the  15th  of  October,*  addressed  apparently 
to  an  old  friend,  but  whose  name  Beza  has  suppressed,  Calvin 
thus  describes  the  abuse  to  which  he  was  subjected  :  "  I  may 
at  once  candidly  confess  that  I  have  been  informed  you  do  not 
hold  the  sound  doctrine  respecting  the  eternal  predestination 
of  God.  Although  I  always  feared  this,  yet  I  did  not  believe 
so  much  as,  to  my  bitter  grief,  I  have  been  compelled  to  hear. 
Moreover,  though  I  felt  myself  injured  in  various  ways,  I  re- 
mained quiet ;  preferring  to  swallow  such  indignities  in  silent 
sorrow  to  snapping  the  chain  of  our  old  friendship.  Now,  too, 
I  must  beg  to  be  silent,  though  attacked  no  less  undeservedly 
than  bitterly  If  you  knew  but  a  tenth  part  of  the  abuse  with 
which  I  am  wounded,  feelings  of  humanity  would  make  you 
groan  at  sufferings  to  which  I  am  myself  grown  callous.  Dogs 
bark  at  me  on  all  sides.  Every  where  I  am  saluted  with  the 
name  of  '  heretic,'  and  all  the  calumnies  that  can  possibly  be 
invented  are  heaped  upon  me  ;  in  a  word,  the  inimical  and  ma- 
levolent among  my  own  flock  attack  me  with  more  bitterness 
than  even  my  declared  Papist  enemies."  Such  were  the  feel- 
ings which  Calvin's  treatment  of  Servetus  had  partly  helped 
to  excite  even  in  some  of  his  former  friends.  Some  of  his  com- 
plaints on  this  occasion  betray  great  soreness,  and  a  sad  want 
of  dignity.  Thus,  he  even  condescended  to  mention,  in  one 
of  the  letters  of  himself  and  brother  ministers  to  those  of 
Berne,  that  a  certain  woman  had  called  him  a  heretic  be- 
cause he  made  God  the  author  of  sin  ;  and  that  he  had  been 
abused  in  a  cobbler's  shop  by  a  rustic  named  Granerius.^ 

On  the  2d  of  October  the  council  of  Geneva  wrote  to  the 
Bernese  to  complain  of  the  abuse  with  which  they  were  loaded 
in  the  Pays  de  Vaud ;  and  denounced  by  name  Zebedee,  min- 
ister of  Nyon ;  Lange,  minister  of  Bursins ;  Jerome  Bolsec, 
and  a  merchant  named  Foussalet,  or  Fousselet.*  Calvin  and 
the  Genevese  ministers  also  wrote  to  those  of  Berne  on  the 
subject.     In  their  letter  they  say:    "A  report  prevails  tli. 

1  MS.,  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  70,  note.  2  Ep.  189. 

3  Calvin  to  the  Bernese  Ministers,  Dec.  29th,  1554,  apud  TrechscI,  i.,  19G. 

4  lUchat,  vi.,  121. 


DISPUTES  WITH  THE  BERNESE  CLERGY.  317 

we  have  been  condemned  as  heretics  by  the  clergy  of  Berne. 
Zebedee,  babbling  about  predestination  at  a  wedding  dinner, 
exclaimed  aloud  that  we  were  worse  than  the  Papists.  En- 
couraged by  him,  that  fiend  (Bolsec),  who  lives  at  Thonon, 
cries  that  Calvin  is  a  heretic,  an  antichrist.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  lake  lives  another,  not  much  different  from  him  ; 
his  name  is  Sebastian,  a  banished  Genevese.  Now  reflect 
what  sport  we  are  preparing  for  the  Papists,  and  to  what 
scoffing  the  holy  name  of  Christ  is  exposed."^  One  of  the 
charges  brought  by  Calvin's  enemies  was,  that  the  doctrine 
of  him  and  his  followers  respecting  predestination  opened  a 
door  to  all  sorts  of  licentiousness ;  for  that  if  people  were 
elected  it  did  not  signify  what  they  did,  as  they  were  sure  to 
be  saved. ^ 

In  their  reply  the  council  of  Berne  expressed  their  sorrow 
for  these  disorders,  as  it  had  always  been  their  care  to  main- 
tain Christian  unity  ;  with  which  view  they  had  strongly  for- 
bidden all  bitter  disputes,  whether  in  speech  or  writing,  as 
well  as  all  false  doctrine  and  slanderous  libels.  They  assured 
the  Genevese  that  they  should  continue  to  pursue  the  same 
conduct,  and  desired  them,  on  their  part,  to  direct  their  min- 
isters not  to  defame  the  government  of  Berne,  nor  their  clergy, 
their  Reformation,  and  their  church,  either  publicly  or  pri- 
vately, in  writing  or  by  word  of  mouth,  but  charitably  to  rec- 
ognize them  as  brothers  in  Christ.^  The  Bernese  also  wrote 
to  all  the  classes  of  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  censuring  their  minis- 
ters, for  not  living  in  unity  with  their  brethren  of  Geneva,  and 
for  neglecting  the  edicts  already  pubhshed  on  this  subject. 
They  stated  that  the  offenders  richly  deserved  the  banishment 
with  which  they  had  been  threatened  the  preceding  year  ; 
and  that  though  they  were  willing  to  pardon  them  this  time, 
yet  if  they  again  offended  they  must  expect  nothing  but  depo- 
sition and  exile. 

This  conduct  of  the  Bernese  magistrates  appears  moderate 
and  dignified,  yet  Calvin  and  his  brother  ministers  were  not 
satisfied.  However  violent  and  unjustifiable  the  behavior  of 
some  of  the  ministers  and  subjects  of  Berne  may  have  been, 
we  can  not  help  suspecting  that  those  of  Geneva  were  not  far 
behind  them.  The  accounts  we  possess  are  chiefly  from  Cal- 
vin's friends  ;  but,  from  an  incidental  notice  of  this  matter  in 

1  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  196,  et  seq.    P.  Henry,  iii.,  70. 

a  "  Q.uod  licentiam  dent  scortandi  et  quidvis  agendi ;  nihil  referre  quid 
agant,  servabuntur,  nihil  metuant." — -Farel  to  Calvin,  ii'eb.  5th,  1555  (Trech- 
sel, i.,  199,  note).  3  B-uchat,  vi,,  121. 


318  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

the  diary  of  Haller,  the  Bernese  pastor,  we  find  that  Viret  and 
the  other  ministers  of  Lausanne  had  complained  of  the  min- 
ister of  Vives-eaux  for  differing  with  them  on  the  subject  of 
predestination,  on  which  he  had  published  a  book  which  they 
got  the  magistrates  to  suppress.  And  though  the  Bernese 
magistrates  had  given  a  general  order  that  nothing  more 
should  be  published  on  the  subject,  yet,  says  Haller,  neither 
Viret  nor  Beza,  who  was  then  Greek  professor  at  Lausanne, 
paid  attention  to  it.^  The  edict,  too,  of  the  Bernese  magis- 
trates shows  that  the  slanderous  tongues  were  not  all  to  be 
found  among  their  subjects.  The  council  and  ministers  of 
Geneva,  however,  were  not,  as  we  have  said,  content  with  the 
edict,  and  again  pressed  the  Bernese  for  the  punishment  of  the 
four  persons  before  named,  who  were  accordingly  cited  to  ap- 
pear at  Berne  in  the  following  January.  Here  Zebedee  and 
Lange  denied  that  they  had  ever  defamed  the  doctrine  of  the 
Genevese  ministers,  or  treated  them  as  heretics  ;  but  affirmed, 
on  the  contrary,  that  it  was  they  who  occasioned  the  scandal 
by  blaming  the  Bernese,  and  by  proposing  things  concerning 
the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  church,  which  tended  to  con- 
fusion rather  than  edification,  although  in  themselves  of  no 
great  importance.  Bolsec  asserted  that  since  the  prohibition 
of  the  Bernese  government  in  the  previous  year,  he  had  not 
spoken  a  word  of  Calvin  or  his  colleagues.  Foussalet  also 
gave  in  a  written  answer,  which,  together  with  the  rest,  were 
dispatched  to  Geneva,  with  a  letter,  in  which  the  Bernese 
expressed  their  regret  at  these  scandals  and  divisions,  which 
would  not,  they  said,  have  occurred  had  the  Genevese  con- 
formed to  their  rites,  as  they  did  at  first.  On  the  same  day 
they  wrote  to  all  the  classes  of  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  severely 
censuring  those  ministers  who  disputed  with  bitterness  on  the 
doctrines  then  agitated,  or  who  pretended  to  introduce  novel- 
ties, contrary  to  the  Reformation  of  Berne,  whether  in  doc- 
trine, or  in  laws  and  discipline.  In  particular  th6y  censured 
those  who  followed  "  certain  deep  and  subtle  doctrines,  opin- 
ions, and  traditions  of  men,  principally  concerning  divine 
predestination  ;  a  thing,  say  they,  which  appears  to  us  un- 
necessary, and  tending  more  to  factions,  sects,  errors,  and  cor- 
ruption, than  to  edification  and  comfort."^ 

It  is  plain  from  this  mandate,  which  was,  of  course,  directed 
against  Viret,  Beza,  and  the  rest  of  Calvin's  friends  and  fol- 
lowers in  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  that  the  Bernese  government  was 

1  Haller's  Diary,  November,  1554,  Mus.  Helv.,  ii.,  105. 

2  B/Uchat,  vi.,  122,  et  seq. 


DISPUTES  WITH  THE  BERNP^SB  CLERGY.  319 

displeased  at  the  pertinacity  of  the  Genevese  ministers.  The 
aUusion  to  the  laws  and  discipline  of  the  church  of  Berne  has 
reference  to  the  question  of  excommunication,  on  which  the 
ministers  of  the  Pays  de  Vaud  were  divided  ;  Viret  and  those 
of  Lausanne  adopting-  the  views  of  Calvin  ;  while  others  fol- 
lowed the  German  theologians.^  This  part  of  the  Bernese 
mandate  gave  such  oiTense  to  some  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  and 
especially  to  certain  Frenchmen  settled  there,  who  looked  upon 
excommunication  as  a  divine  injunction,  that  they  refused  to 
receive  the  communion  in  their  own  parishes,  but  went  for 
that  purpose  either  to  Geneva,  or  to  some  of  the  villages  in 
the  Genevese  territory.  This  practice  the  Bernese  council 
Ibrbade,  under  severe  penalties,  by  an  edict  dated  on  the  26th 
of  January,  1555.  As  this  edict  was  read  from  the  pulpits, 
and  placarded  by  the  bailiffs,  it  was  regarded  by  the  people 
as  an  excommunication  of  the  Genevese,  and  Calvin's  name 
was  execrated  on  all  sides.  Calvin  thus  disburdens  his  o-rief 
in  a  letter  to  BuUinger  :  "  No  sooner  have  we  obtained  a  lit- 
tle quiet  in  Geneva,  than  the  Bernese  council  absolves  not 
only  those  who  had  denounced  me  for  a  heretic,  but  sends 
forth  raging  enemies  against  me  and  the  church — nay,  we 
are  even  accused  as  criminals.  We  have  shown  that  we 
were  always  ready  to  render  an  account  of  ourselves,  and 
have  voluntarily  made  them  our  judges  :  but  they  will  not 
hear  us.  Among  other  things  they  have  forbidden  their  sub- 
jects, by  public  edicts,  to  take  the  communion  with  us.  Won- 
der no  longer  at  the  barbarity  of  the  Saxons,  when  the  church 
is  thus  distracted  out  of  hatred  to  a  man  who  would  have 
sacrificed  his  neck  a  hundred  times  to  purchase  peace.  But 
nothing  afflicts  me  more  painfully  than  that  by  such  signs 
Gqd  plainly  foreshadows  his  wrath.  Well,  if  it  will  appease 
their  hungry  wrath,  let  me  be  sent  into  a  tedious  exile.  I 
pour  this  complaint  into  your  bosom,  in  order  that  you  may 
support  me  by  your  righteous  prayers."* 

As  the  Genevese  were  piqued  at  the  ediet  in  question,  and 
were,  moreover,  but  ill  satisfied  with  the  manner  in  which 
their  complaints  had  been  received,  they  dispatched,  in  March, 
1555,  a  deputation  to  Berne,  composed  of  one  of  the  syndics, 
a  member  of  the  council,  and  two  ministers,  namely,  Calvin^ 

^  R-uchat,  vi.,  p..  124. 

2  MS.  Tig.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  71. 

'  Calvin  was  accompanied  on  this  occasion  by  Viret.  "  March  10th,  Cal- 
vin and  Viret  were  here.  They  had  an  action  against  Andrew"  Zebedee. 
Calvin  also  wished  his  doctrine  of  predestination  to  he  confirmed  by  our 
eoancil,  but  did  not  succeed." — Haller,  Diary,  Mux.  Helv.,  ii.,  107. 


320  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

and  Raymond  Chauvet,  to  demand  justice  against  the  four 
individuals  who  had  been  already  accused.  As  the  latter 
were  not  then  at  Berne,  the  council  appointed  the  3d  of  April 
for  hearing  the  case,  and  cited  them  for  that  day.  On  this 
occasion  Calvin  called  Perrin  as  a  witness,  who  had  been 
present  when  Zebedee  uttered  the  words  complained  of  at  the 
wedding  at  Nyon  :  but  he  excused  himself  by  saying  that  he 
had  forgotten  all  about  it.^  After  hearing  both  parties,  the 
council  of  Berne  pronounced  a  judgment,  the  chief  aim  of 
which  was  to  settle  matters  amicably,  although  they  substan- 
tially adhered  to  their  former  sentence.^  They  directed  that 
all  abuse  and  ill-feeling  should  be  laid  aside  by  both  parties. 
They  exhorted  the  Genevese  deputies  to  take  care  that  their 
ministers  preached  with  modesty,  and  in  a  manner  calculated 
to  instruct  without  offending,  and  that  they  abstained  in  fu- 
ture from  publishing  books  upon  the  impenetrable  decrees  of 
God  ;  a  thing,  they  said,  neither  necessary  nor  edifying ;  prom- 
ising at  the  same  time  that  they  would  give  the  like  orders  to 
their  ministers  in  the  Pays  Romand.  They  declined  passing 
any  opinion  upon  Calvin's  doctrine,  and  declared  that  they 
would  not  permit  it  to  be  discussed  in  their  territories.^  They 
added,  that  they  had  learned  from  some  letters  of  Calvin's, 
that  he  rejected  Zv/ingli's  doctrine  of  the  sacraments,  calling 
it  false  and  pernicious  ;  a  point  which  touched  them  nearly, 
as  that  doctrine  had  been  received  among  them,  and  defend- 
ed in  the  disputation  of  Berne. '^  They  said  that  they  might 
have  adopted  proceedings  against  Calvin  on  this  subject,  but 
that,  in  order  to  give  him  a  lesson  of  moderation,  they  would 
not  do  so.  But  they  gave  him  to  understand,  l^  '  if  they 
should  hereafter  find  any  books  of  his  in  their  country,  or  any 
treatises  against  their  Reformation,  they  would  burn  them ; 
and  would  punish  any  man  who  should  speak  or  write  against 
it  in  their  territories. 

Calvin  and  the  Genevese  deputation  were  not  content  with 

1  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  201.  2  Ruchat,  vi.,  127,  et  seq. 

3  Ruchat,  vi.,  129,  observes  in  a  note,  that  the  Bernese  must  have  been 
misled  on  this  point  by  some  of  Calvin's  enemies,  who  wished  to  ruin  him 
in  their  opinion.  But  the  Bernese  declare  that  they  got  their  information 
from  Calvin's  own  letters ;  and  indeed  in  one  of  his  to  Viret,  still  extant, 
he  says  :  "I  shall  not  interfere  with  your  opinions  about  Zwingli's  writ- 
ings. I  have  never  read  all  his  works.  Perhaps  toward  the  end  of  his  life 
he  retouched  and  corrected  what  at  first  he  had  unwittingly  written.  But 
I  remember  what  a  profane  opinion  he  holds  on  the  subject  of  the  sacra- 
ments in  many  of  his  writings." — MS.  Goth.,  apiid  Schlosser,  Leben  de-i  P. 
Martyr,  .p.  451.  Indeed,  though  often  loud  in  praise  of  Luther.  Calvin 
seldom  speaks  well  of  Zwingli,  whom  he  seems  to  have  regai-ded  as  a 
sort  of  rival. 


CALVIN  VISITS  BERNE.  321 

this  decision,  but  requested  the  government  of  Berne  to  give 
a  more  detailed  judgment,  and  particularly  to  express  their 
opinion  upon  Calvin's  doctrine.  The  latter  had  brought  with 
him  a  paper  containing  a  sort  of  confession  of  faith,  and  ad- 
dressed the  council  in  a  speech,  the  main  drift  of  w^hich  was 
to  show  that  the  same  doctrine  was  preached  at  Geneva  as 
at  Berne,  namely,  that  of  predestination ;  and  he,  therefore, 
requested  the  Bernese  to  find  some  means  of  instructing  their 
subjects  better  in  it,  and  thus  of  obviating  the  calumnies 
which  were  spread  against  them  (the  Genevese).  He  also 
requested  that  it  might  please  them  not  to  leave  these  cal- 
umnies unpunished ;  and  that  the  edict  forbidding  people  to 
go  to  Geneva  to  receive  the  sacrament  might  be  drawn  up 
in  a  clearer  manner  ;  since  some  maUcious  persons  interpreted 
it  as  if  it  were  a  condemnation  of  the  Genevese  doctrine.  To 
this  the  Bernese  answered  drily,  that  if  the  deputation  did  not 
like  their  sentence,  they  would  not  compel  them  to  accept 
ofit.^ 

Of  the  persons  cited,  Zebedee  denied  that  he  had  mention- 
ed Calvin  either  in  his  books  or  sermons.  Lange  admitted 
having  spoken  of  him  in  a  conversation,  on  the  subject  of 
a  passage  in  his  treatise  on  predestination,  which  savored  of 
heresy.  It  was  to  the  effect  that  Christ  had  despaired  upon 
the  cross  ;  and  the  error  arose  from  his  having  translated  the 
word  evAa(3eLag  by  prce  TJietu,  instead  of  prce  reverential 
Calvin  said,  that  it  was  an  error  of  the  press ;  which,  how- 
ever, from  the  nature  of  it,  could  hardly  have  been  the  case. 
The  council  would  not  admit  this  excuse,  and  held  him  re- 
sponsible. Foussalet  having  been  convicted  of  some  verses  in 
which  Geneva  was  called  a  Sodom,  the  Bernese  council  con- 
demned him  to  make  the  amende  honorable  ;  to  acknowledge 
the  Genevese  to  be  good  and  honorable  men  and  just  gov- 
ernors ;  and  afterward  to  be  banished  for  life,  allowing  him 
only  a  fortnight  to  arrange  his  affairs.  Another  person  named 
Pierrechon,  who  had  likewise  defamed  the  Genevese,  was 
condemned  to  make  reparation,  and  to  be  imprisoned  for  three 
days.^  Bolsec  was  also  ordered  to  leave  the  territories  of 
Berne.'* 

Bolsec's  banishment  was  effected  through  the  persevering 
hostility  of  Beza.  For  this  purpose  he  made  numerous  journeys 
on  foot  to  Geneva,  Thonon,  Berne,  Orbe,  and  other  places,  to 

1  Trechsel,  i.,  203.    P.  Henry,  iii.,  73. 

2  See  Haller,  Epk^m.,  Mus.  Helv.,  ii.,  121;  Bolsec,  Vie  de  Calv.,  c.  xxiv. 

3  Ruchat,  1.  c.  *  Beza,  Vita  Calv.,  anno  1555. 


322  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

win  over  the  principal  persons,  both  lay  and  clerical,  against 
Bolsec,  and  to  uphold  Calvin's  doctrine  ;  insomuch  that  he 
wsLS  accused  of  neglecting  his  duties  as  Greek  professor  at 
Lausanne,  in  the  pursuit  of  these  objects.  During  this  period 
Beza  fell  sick,  and  Calvin  felt  the  greatest  apprehension  of 
losing  him.  When  he  was  somewhat  recovered  Calvin  sent 
a  horse  to  bring  him  to  Geneva,  and  lodged  him  in  his  own 
house  during  his  convalescence.  "  The  zeal  for  the  pure 
doctrine  manifested  by  both,"  says  the  biographer  of  Beza, 
"  would  border  on  monkish  superstition,  did  not  one  circum- 
stance essentially  distinguish  it.  While  they  stood  upon  the 
doctrine  they  spared  no  sacrifice  to  uphold  and  confirm  the 
morality  of  those  whom  they  did  not  consider  as  totally  lost." ' 
Beza  was  indefatigable  in  collecting  evidence  against  Bolsec. 
No  difficulties,  no  repulses,  deterred  him ;  till  at  length  he 
succeeded  in  catching  Bolsec  in  such  assertions  at  Morges,  as 
enabled  him  to  procure  his  banishment  by  the  Bernese  coun- 
cil. "  In  proportion  to  the  difficulties  of  his  task,"  says 
Schlosser,  "  Beza  displayed  a  resolution  a?id  disinterested- 
ness which  showed  a  great  soul.  He  even  said  that,  if  the 
earth  would  not  have  him,  heaven  at  least  was  open  to  him ; 
that  is,  tliat  he  did  not  fear  universal  hatred,  and  banish- 
ment from  Berne,  provided  he  could  forward  the  cause  of 
truth." - 

The  Bernese  appear  to  have  acted  on  this  occasion  with 
their  usual  good  temper  and  moderation.  But  Calvin  was 
still  dissatisfied,  and  addressed  a  remonstrance  to  the  Bernese 
council,  in  which  he  says  :  '*  As  much  of  the  afiair  is  con- 
nected with  private  hatred  against  myself,  I  wish  to  appear 
at  Berne  as  a  private  person ;  but  not  I  alone,  but  the  whole 
Genevese  church,  as  well  as  those  of  your  clergy,  with  whom 
I  agree,  are  condemned  by  your  edict.  You  hold  that  no 
books  should  be  written  concerning  the  mysteries  of  God. 
But  to  what  does  that  lead  ?  Many  in  your  territories  blas- 
pheme against  predestination  more  than  is  allowed  even  among 
the  Papists.  I  am  aware  that  in  the  handling  of  this  deep 
and  incomprehensible  mystery  we  ought  to  be  moderate  and 
humble ;  but  if  your  Excellencies  had  seen  my  calumniated 
book,  you  would  have  perceived  that  its  only  aim  is  to  repress 
the  temerity  of  men,  and  to  teach  them  to  address  the  maj- 
esty of  God  with  all  reverence,  and  without  giving  the  reins 
to  curiosity.  If  one  is  determined  to  throw  aside  this  doctrine, 
without  any  regard  to  modesty  and  humility,  such  a  proceed- 
1  Schlosser,  Lebeii  Bezas,  p.  49.  2  met.,  p.  63. 


FURTHER  STRUGGLES  WITH  THE  LfBERTlNEb.       31>;3 

ing  amounts  to  an  attempt  to  improve  upon  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
and  consequently  we  should  strike  out  of"  the  Scriptures  what 
is  revealed  to  us  on  the  subject,  I  can  not  but  wonder  that 
I  alone  am  attacked,  when,  if  a  comparison  be  made,  it  will 
appear  that  I  have  used  much  more  modest  language  than 
most  of  the  learned  men  of  Germany  who  brought  the  gospel 
to  light  in  our  time.  Wherefore  I  adjure  you,  according  to 
the  precept  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  have  no  respect  to 
persons  ;  since,  if  my  name  and  books  were  to  perish,  still  the 
words  of  the  Prophets  and  Apostles  would  remain  untouched, 
from  which  I  have  taken  the  doctrine  you  condemn." ' 

Calvin  added  many  more  complaints  in  the  saraie  tone,  and 
at  the  end  of  May  again  repaired  to  Berne,  to  endeavor  to 
establish  a  better  understanding.  This,  however,  led  to  no 
result  ;  and  the  Bernese  council  answered  shortly  that  they 
would  be  troubled  no  more  with  a  thing  they  had  dis- 
posed of" 

At  the  same  time  that  these  bickerings  were  going  on  be- 
tween Calvin  and  the  ministers  of  Berne,  the  Genevese  were 
earnestly  endeavoring  to  renew  their  alliance  with  that  city, 
which  would  expire  in  1556.  The  Genevese  proposed  a  per- 
petual fellow-citizenship,  but  the  government  of  Berne  seem 
to  have  received  their  proposals  rather  coolly.''  Yet  at  this 
time  danger  from  without  threatened  both  these  republics. 
Emanuel  Philibert,  surnamed  Ironhead,  son  of  Charles, 
Duke  of  Savoy,  who  died  in  exile,  in  1553,  was  using  his 
utmost  endeavors  to  recover  his  paternal  inheritance  ;  with 
which  view  he  applied  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  who 
promised  to  reinstate  him  in  the  spring  of  1555,  and  pro- 
posed at  the  same  time  to  attack  both  Berne  and  Geneva. 
But  Charles's  war  with  the  French  king  furnished  him  with 
sufficient  employment  without  venturing  into  Switzerland ; 
and  the  two  cities  escaped  with  a  temporary  alarm.* 

Meanwhile  Calvin's  struggles  with  his  enemies  at  Geneva 
were  rapidly  drawing  to  a  crisis.  The  Libertine  party  con- 
tinued to  exhibit  much  violence,  and  to  commit  many  disor- 
ders. On  the  9th  of  January,  1555,  a  party  of  young  people, 
after  supper,  and  inflamed  probably  by  wine,  exclaimed  that 
they  must  give  the  consistory  something  to  do ;  and  each 
seizing  a  lighted  taper,  made  a  sort  of  procession  through  the 
city,  singing  profane  songs  to  psalm  tunes,  and  deriding  the 

1  Trechsel,  i.,  205,  and  MS.  Gen.  et  Bern.,  May  4th,  1555,  apud  P.  Henry 
iii.,  75. 

3  Trechsel,  1.  c.  3  Ruchat,  vi.,  131.  *  Ibid.,  p.  134. 


324  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

members  of  the  consistory.  Some  of  them  afterward  went 
out  of  the  town  to  a  place  called  Cocthige  ;  and  returning 
on  horseback,  traversed  some  of  the  principal  thoroughfares, 
and  finally  took  up  their  station  at  the  Pont  d'Arve.  Here 
they  were  seized,  and  one  of  them  was  afterward  banished 
for  a  year.^  Nevertheless  a  more  favorable  spirit  toward  Cal- 
vin had  begun  to  manifest  itself  in  the  council  of  the  Two 
Hundred,  where  the  strength  of  his  enemies  chiefly  lay  ;  and 
this  was  assisted  by  the  circumstance  of  Perrin's  syndicate 
being  now  expired.  On  the  24th  of  January  the  question  of 
excommunication  was  brought  before  that  assembly  for  final 
decision.  The  point  in  dispute  did  not  concern  the  right  of 
excommunication  itself,  which  was  conceded  on  all  hands  ; 
but  turned  only  on  what  tribunal  should  determine  on  it  in 
the  last  resort.  Soon  after  Calvin's  return,  as  it  has  been 
said,  the  general  assembly  of  the  people  had  invested  the  con- 
sistory with  the  absolute  and  uncontrolled  power  of  excommu- 
nication ;  from  which  the  Libertine  party  were  endeavoring 
to  establish  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  ordinary  council.  They 
complained  of  the  anomaly  that  there  should  be  a  tribunal  in 
the  state  whose  decrees  the  magistrates  had  not  the  power  of 
reviewing.  They  described  it  as  a  sort  of  itnperium  in  im- 
joerio;  from  which  common  sense  dictated  that  the  sovereign 
power  should  be  lodged  entirely  with  the  government,  as  a 
guarantee  for  those  liberties  which  they  had  so  dearly  bought : 
and  they  enforced  these  arguments  by  pointing  to  the  tyranny 
exercised  by  the  Popes,  and  other  prelates,  under  a  pretense 
of  spiritual  jurisdiction.  The  ministers  were  summoned  be- 
fore the  Two  Hundred  on  this  occasion.  Calvin  was  their 
spokesman,  and  represented  the  obligation  that  all  were  under 
to  defer  to  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  head  of  the 
Church,  and  to  that  of  the  Apostles,  to  whom  he  had  given 
the  power  to  bind  and  loose,  as  well  as  to  teach  the  word,  and 
to  administer  the  sacraments.  He  insisted  that  the  civil  mag- 
istrates had  no  more  power  in  these  matters  than  the  minis- 
ters had  to  attack  the  government  and  the  secular  jurisdiction. 
He  argued  that  the  ministers  were  commissioned  to  take  care 
that  the  sacraments  were  not  profaned  ;  and  that  as  they,  like 
all  other  members  of  the  state,  were  subject  in  all  secular 
matters  to  the  judgment  of  the  council,  so  in  like  manner  all 
greatness  and  power  should  bend  the  knee  to  the  reign  and 

1  See  Rigistres,  quoted  by  P.  Henry,  iii.,  370.  Calvin  has  alluded  to 
these  struggles,  as  well  as  to  his  contests  with  the  Beniese  clergy,  in  his 
Preface  to  the  Psalms. 


CONSISTORY  AUTHORIZED  TO  EXCOMMUNICATE.    325 

gospel  of  Christ.  He  pointed  out  that  this  distinction  had 
always  been  carefully  observed  by  good  kings,  and  that,  in  the 
Jewish  theocracy,  the  right  of  sacrificing  had  been  left  to 
Aaron,  and  that  David  had  not  interfered  with  it.  He  show- 
ed that  the  Lord  had  always  signally  punished  those  who  vio- 
lated the  established  order  ;  as  in  the  case  of  Uzzah,  who  was 
struck  with  death  for  having  placed  his  hand  upon  the  ark ; 
and  of  the  king  Uzziah,  who  was  punished  with  leprosy  for 
having  entered  the  sanctuary,  and  touched  the  censer.  With 
regard  to  any  fear  that  the  consistory  should  abuse  its  author- 
ity, that  had  been  sufficiently  provided  for  by  the  edicts  rati- 
fied by  the  general  assembly,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be  ap- 
prehended so  long  as  these  were  properly  observed.  And  he 
concluded  by  observing  that  all  liberty,  wdthout  Jesus  Christ, 
was  but  a  miserable  servitude.  These  arguments  seem  to 
have  made  a  great  impression  ;  and  it  was  resolved  by  a  ma- 
jority that  the  edicts  approved  by  the  general  assembly  should 
remain  inviolable.  The  consequence  of  this  decision  was  that 
the  exercise  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  remained  wholly  with 
the  consistory.^ 

This  proceeding,  however,  only  aggravated  the  anger  and 
ill-feehng  of  the  Libertines.  They  loudly  demanded  that 
preaching  should  be  abohshed,  and  the  number  of  ministers 
reduced  to  two,  who  should  merely  read  the  text  of  Scripture 
from  the  pulpit,  and  teach  the  people  the  Creed,  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  the  Ten  Commandments.  They  asserted  that  so 
much  interpretation  was  not  only  superfluous  but  dangerous  ; 
and  seizing  on  the  remonstrance  made  by  the  Bernese  to  the 
deputies  from  Geneva  on  the  subject  of  Calvin's  doctrine  of 
predestination,  they  said  that  so  many  books  of  commentaries 
ought  not  to  be  printed.^ 

The  new  syndics,  who  were  favorable  to  Calvin,  endeav- 
ored to  repress  these  clamors,  and  even  punished  and  im- 
prisoned some  of  the  Libertine  party.  In  order  the  better  to 
make  head  against  them,  the  council  resolved  on  admitting  a 
considerable  number  of  the  French  refugees  to  the  rights  of 
citizenship  ;  and,  accordingly,  in  the  spring,  about  fifty  were 
received  at  once.^  An  appeal  was  made  to  the  Two  Hundred 
against  this  step,  who,  however,  confirmed  the  right  of  the 
little  council  to  admit  whom  they  pleased  to  citizenship,  as 
they  had  always  done."*     It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the 

1  Ruchat,  vi.,  133,  et  seq.  2  Jbid.,  vi.,  136. 

3  Calvin  to  Bullinger,  Ep.  207,  Jane  15th,  1555. 

*  "Le  grand  Conseil  confirme  a  MM.  du  petit  Conseil  le  droit  de  faire 


326  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ordinary  council  was  influenced  in  this  step  by  Calvin  ;  a  cir- 
cumstance which  shows  that  his  power  was  again  in  the  as- 
cendant. The  appeal  against  it  was  instigated  by  Ami  Per- 
rin  and  Peter  Vandel,  the  leaders  of  the  Libertine  or  Patriot 
party,  and  also  members  of  the  little  council  ;  who  even  per- 
suaded the  lieutenant  of  police  to  appear,  with  his  assessors, 
before  the  council,  and  to  remonstrate  with  them,  in  the  name 
of  the  people,  against  the  reception  of  so  large  a  number  of 
aliens  to  the  rights  of  citizenship.  This  was  a  very  unbe- 
coming step  on  the  part  of  that  officer  ;  especially  as  he  en- 
deavored to  overawe  the  council  by  appearing  at  their  doors 
attended  by  a  great  mob  composed  of  sailors,  fishermen,  pastry- 
cooks, and  the  like.^  But  when  the  malcontents  heard  that 
the  Two  Hundred  had  confirmed  the  privileges  of  the  ordi- 
nary council,  as  to  the  election  of  citizens,  their  fury  knew 
no  bounds.  The  previous  day  the  leaders  of  the  Libertine 
party  had  regaled  their  followers  gratuitously.  The  feasting 
was  kept  up  all  day,  Vandel  providing  the  dinner,  and  Perrin 
the  supper.  Meanwhile  the  most  sinister  rumors  were  afloat, 
and  appearances  seemed  to  show  that  some  violent  outbreak 
was  at  hand.  The  more  moderate  of  the  Libertines  wished, 
indeed,  only  to  obtain  a  meeting  of  the  general  assembly,  and 
to  turn  out  the  newly-admitted  citizens.  But  the  opinion  of 
the  more  violent  prevailed  ;  which  was,  to  kill  all  the  foreign- 
ers who  had  taken  refuge  at  Geneva  for  the  sake  of  religion, 
as  well  as  those  citizens  who  supported  them ;  and  it  was  re- 
solved that  this  execrable  project  should  be  carried  out  on  the 
following  Sunday,  while  the  people  were  at  church.  Happily, 
however,  the  precipitation  of  some  of  the  conspirators  caused 
the  plot  to  break  out  before  it  was  ripe  for  execution,  and 
thus  caused  its  frustration.  It  was  the  custom  at  Geneva, 
after  the  watch  was  set,  for  one  of  the  council  to  go  round 
and  examine  the  stations ;  and  this  duty  they  took  by  turns. 
On  the  night  in  question  it  was  the  turn  of  a  councilor 
named  Baudichon  to  perform  this  duty.  Baudichon  was  par- 
ticularly obnoxious  to  the  Libertines,  not  only  because  he 
protected  the  refugees,  but  because  he  had  been  elected  into 
the  council  in  the  room  of  one  of  Perrin's  party.  As  he  was 
going  his  rounds,  accompanied  by  two  young  men,  somebody 
who  had  been  struck  by  a  stone,  cried  out  that  he  was  killed. 
Baudichon  ran  to  the  spot,  where  he  was  attacked  by  some 

des  bourgeois  quand  ils  le  trouvevont  a  propos  pour  I'honneur  et  pour  le 
bien  de  la  ville,  ainsi  qu'ils  I'oat  toujours  eu." — Rigistres,  27  Mars,  1555. 
Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographiques.  ^  Calvin,  Ep.  207. 


QUESTION  OF  CITIZENSHIP— RIOTS.  327 

of  the  malcontents,  who  drew  their  swords,  exclaiming, 
"Death  to  the  traitor!"  It  seems  probable  that  it  was  a 
concerted  plan  to  draw  Baudichon  thither.  The  noise  in- 
creasing, Aubert,  one  of  the  syndics,  who  happened  to  be 
near,  hastened  to  the  spot  with  his  baton  of  office,  and  or- 
dered one  of  the  rioters  to  be  seized.  In  a  moment  he  was 
surrounded  by  a  whole  band,  exclaiming,  "  Kill  the  French 
traitor — the  French  are  sacking  the  town  I"  In  another 
quarter  Vandel's  wife  raised  the  same  cry.  The  whole  city 
was  filled  with  tumult  and  alarm.  Every  one  ran  for  his 
arms  without  knowing  why  :  though  a  report  prevalent  at 
that  time,  that  the  French  king  had  ordered  the  Duke  of 
Guise  to  take  Geneva,  probably  served  to  give  some  coloring 
of  probability  to  the  cry  raised  by  the  insurgents.  Perrin 
himself  was  on  the  spot,  and  under  pretense  of  restoring  order, 
endeavored  to  get  possession  of  the  syndical  baton,  an  emblem 
of  power  much  reverenced  at  Geneva ;  but  Aubert  would 
not  give  it  up.  Perrin,  however,  succeeded  in  snatching  the 
baton  from  another  of  the  syndics  who  was  hastening  to  the 
scene  of  disturbance  ;  but,  according  to  Calvin,^  a  sort  of  re- 
ligious awe  had  seized  upon  the  rioters,  who  did  not  respond 
to  his  cries  of  encouragement.  Indeed,  Calvin's  letter,  in 
which  he  describes  the  tumult,  seems  rather  exaggerated,  and 
leaves  the  impression  that  after  all  the  whole  affair  was  little 
more  than  a  casual  street  riot ;  though  some  undoubtedly 
would  have  been  glad  to  avail  themselves  of  it  for  more  sin- 
ister purposes.  The  mob,  however,  with  Perrin  and  Vandel 
at  their  head,  proceeded  to  the  house  of  Baudichon,  and  en- 
deavored to  raise  a  tumult  by  crying  that  it  was  full  of  armed 
Frenchmen  ;  but  the  attempt  failed  through  the  cowardice 
of  the  assailants,  who  were  frightened  by  the  noise  of  an  iron 
bar  which  fell  upon  the  pavement.  Vandel,  seeing  that  his 
designs  were  frustrated,  now  employed  himself  in  dispersing 
the  mob ;  and  the  riot  ended  without  bloodshed.^  On  the 
following  day  it  was  determined  that  the  matter  should  be 
inquired  into.  The  council  met,  and  the  syndics  spent  three 
days  in  examining  witnesses.  When  their  depositions  were 
complete  it  was  resolved  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  council  of 
Two  Hundred,  in  order  to  avoid  any  suspicion  of  prejudice 
and  oppression.  In  this  latter  assembly,  Perrin,  and  several 
others  who  had  taken  part  in  the  riot,  had  the  audacity  to 
take  their  places  as  judges ;  but  on  the  reading  of  the  depo- 
sitions, when  any  member  of  the  council  appeared  to  be  irapli- 
1  Ep.  207.  2  Spon,  ii.,  71,  note  e. 


328  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

cated,  he  was-  immediately  ordered  to  quit  the  house.  Perrin, 
seeing  that  the  affair  was  likely  to  take  a  serious  turn,  fled 
from  Geneva,  and  was  followed  by  Vandel,  Berthelier,  and 
some  others.  The  Two  Hundred  again  referred  the  case  to 
the  ordinary  council,  with  a  recommendation  to  make  a  severe 
example  of  the  criminals.  For  a  fortnight  the  fugitives  were 
daily  summoned  by  the  public  herald,  by  sound  of  trumpet ; 
but  they  wrote  to  the  council,  refusing  to  appear,  unless  a 
public  guarantee  of  safety  were  given  to  them.  On  the  day 
appointed  for  their  trial  five  of  the  fugitives  were  condemned. 
Before  sentence  was  pronounced  upon  them,  a  general  assem- 
bly was  convened,  in  which  their  crimes  were  recited  ;  and  as 
they  did  not  appear  to  purge  themselves,  their  condemnation 
was  of  course  confirmed.  Four  rioters  who  had  been  taken 
were  executed  on  the  21st  of  May.  They  protested  with 
their  last  breath  that  they  were  not  privy  to  any  treason  or 
conspiracy  ;  but  that  they  had  merely  endeavored  to  prevent 
the  making  of  so  many  citizens,  and  to  protect  the  city  from 
the  dominion  of  foreigners.^  Calvin,  however,  characterizes 
their  confession  as  one  which  showed  them  to  be  too  guilty  to 
allow  any  chance  of  escape.^  Sentence  was  pronounced  by 
the  council  on  Perrin  and  the  other  fugitives  on  the  3d  of 
June.  They  were  condemned  to  lose  their  heads,  and  to  be 
quartered ;  Perrin,  moreover,  to  have  his  hand  chopped  off, 
with  which  he  had  seized  the  baton  of  the  syndic.  This  sen- 
tence was  executed  on  his  effigy.^ 

Meanwhile  he  and  his  accomplices,  having  escaped  to  the 
territories  of  Berne,  begged  the  mediation  of  that  city  in  their 
favor.  The  Bernese  accordingly  wrote  to  Geneva,  tendering 
their  good  offices  for  the  pacification  of  these  troubles ;  and 
on  the  13th  of  June  sent  deputies  with  the  same  offer,  who 
were  also  instructed  to  mention  that  Berne  was  willing  to 
treat  with  Geneva  respecting  a  renewal  of  the  alliance.  But 
even  this  bait  did  not  allure  the  Genevese  to  retract  their 
sentence  on  the  mutineers.^  Calvin  describes  the  Bernese 
deputies  who  came  on  their  behalf  as  finding  a  united  city, 
and  the  verdict  against  the  fugitives  universally  acquiesced 
in.^ 

The  history  of  this  affair,  even  from  Calvin's  own  pen, 
leaves  the  impression  that  the  power  of  Perrin  and  his  party 
was,  after  all,  contemptible.  His  supporters  in  the  ordinary 
council  were  few  or  none.     In  the  council  of  Two  Hundred, 

>  Ruchat,  vi.,  139.  2  Ep.  207.  3  Spon,  1.  c. 

*  Ruchat,  vi.,  140.  s  gp.  207. 


THE  LIBERTINES  DISCOMFITED.  32& 

even  though  he  seems  to  have  tampered  with  the  elections, 
he  was  in  a  minority,  as  appears  from  the  ministers  carrying 
their  point  respecting  excommunication  ;  and  also  from  the 
expulsion  and  condemnation  of  Perrin  himself  by  that  body. 
That  the  Genevese  people  were  not  for  him  is  shown  by  the 
almost  ludicrous  failure  of  his  attempt  at  insurrection,  as  well 
as  by  the  sentence  passed  upon  him  and  his  associates  being 
confirmed  by  the  genera]  assembly.  The  whole  business  reads 
like  a  caricature  of  the  Catilinarian  conspiracy. 

Calvin's  proceedings  were  attributed  by  his  opponents  to 
feelings  of  personal  hatred,  and  a  desire  of  shedding  their 
blood  ;  and  this  charge  has  been  revived  by  two  modern  his- 
torians— namely,  by  Galifle,  in  his  ''Notices  Genealogiques,'' 
and  by  Thourel,  in  his  "  History  of  Geneva."  A  recent 
biographer  of  Calvin  has  rested  one  of  his  main  arguments 
against  the  truth  of  this  charge  on  the  assertion  that  such 
motives  were  not  imputed  to  Calvin,  even  by  the  Libertines 
themselves.^  But  this  author  must  have  overlooked  a  passage 
in  Calvin's  own  letter,  where  we  find  it  stated  that  such  an 
intention  had  been  ascribed  to  him ;  ^  nay,  Calvin  was  even 
accused  of  standing  by  while  the  prisoners  were  tortured,  and 
of  urging  on  the  severest  measures  against  them.^  The  same 
writer  endeavors  to  make  it  appear  that  the  affair  was  a 
purely  political  one.'*  But  this  is  not  consistent  with  the 
records  of  the  trials,  as  cited  by  himself  The  sentence  on 
Philibert  Berthelier  recited  that  it  was  inflicted  "  pour  les 
crimes  horribles  et  detestables  cle  conspiratio7i  contre  la  sainte 
institution  et  reformation  Chrestienne,  et  contre  cette  cite, 
bien  public,  et  tranquillite  d'icelle,  &:c."  P.  Berthelier  saved 
himself  by  flight,  but  his  brother  Francis  was  apprehended, 
and  was  one  of  those  who  were  executed.  Now,  the  points 
on  which  he  was  convicted  were  four,  viz.,  1.  That,  like  his 
brother,  he  wished  to  deprive  the  consistory  of  the  right  of 
excommunication,  because  it  made  Calvin  a  bishop  and  prince 
of  Geneva ;    and  that  he  had   hoped  that  this  opportunity 

1  "  Endlich  finde  ich  gegen  die  Anldage  des  Herrn  Galiffe  einen  schlagen- 
den  Beweis  dafiir,  dass  CalvjLn  keinesweges  gegen  diese  Leute  thatig  war, 
in  dem  Umstand  dass  die  Libertiner  selbst  durchaus  nicht  Calvin  als  ihren 
Verfolger  anklagen." — P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  vii.,  p.  121. 

2  "  I  say  nothing  about  myself,  whom  they  have  gratuitously  taken  for 
their  enemy.  For  as  to  the  shameless  charge  that  I  was  compassing  their 
death,  it  is  too  absurd  to  need  any  apology." — Ep.  207. 

3  Trechsel,  Antitr.,  i.,  205. 

*  "  Also  hatte  er  (Calvin)  kein  kirchliches  Interesse  dabei  zu  verfechten." 
— P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  vii.,  p.  118.  Yet  he  contradicts  this  himself  a  few 
sentences  afterward:  "Die  Verurtheilten  woUten  die  bestehende  politische 
imd  religiose  Ordnung  stiirtzen." 


330  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

would  be  the  means  of  banishing  Calvin.  2.  That  he  had 
opposed  the  reception  of  the  new  citizens,  who  would  have 
had  the  majority  in  the  great  council.  This  was  styled  in 
the  process  crimen  Icesce  7)iajestMtis,  or  high  treason.  3.  That 
he  had  expressed  himself  loudly  against  the  doctrine  of  the 
Reformation  received  at  Geneva.  4.  That  he  had  instigated 
the  lieutenant  of  police  to  his  factious  conduct,  in  opposing 
the  citizenship  of  the  French  refugees.^  Now,  out  of  the  four 
grounds  here  assigned  for  this  sentence  of  death  upon  Fran- 
cis Berthelier,  it  is  remarkable  that  two  are  for  attacks 
upon  Calvin's  doctrine  and  discipline,  and  for  a  desire  to  de- 
prive him  of  his  ecclesiastical  power,  and  to  drive  him  from 
Geneva.  The  other  two  are  evidently  mere  pretenses.  It 
could  have  been  no  treason  to  oppose  the  admission  of  the 
French  refugees  to  the  rights  of  citizenship,  unless  it  were 
done  in  an  illegal  manner.  Now  it  is  true,  as  we  have  related, 
that  the  lieutenant  of  police,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Liber- 
tines, had  attempted  to  overawe  the  council  on  that  point ; 
but  we  learn  from  Calvin  himself,  that  the  council  had  over- 
looked that  attempt,  and  had  dismissed  the  lieutenant  him- 
self, the  chief  actor  in  it,  with  a  simple  reprimand.^  We  can 
hardly,  therefore,  think  that  political  views  were  the  chief, 
much  less  the  only  motive  for  these  executions,  as  Dr.  Henry 
would  have  us  to  believe ;  ^  and  though  Calvin  may  not  have 
been  actuated  by  any  desire  of  personal  vengeance,  still  we 
can  not  but  look  upon  them  as  having  been  the  result  of  his 
power,  of  the  intimate  connection  which  he  had  estabhshed 
between  church  and  state,  and  of  his  determination  to  uphold 
his  scheme  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  without  much  regard 
to  the  means  which  he  used  for  that  purpose. 

The  Genevese  confiscated  the  estates  of  the  fugitives,  made 
any  proposition  for  their  recall  a  capital  offense,  and  ordered 
their  wives  to  quit  Geneva.  ^  The  refugees  were  again  per- 
mitted to  carry  arms ;  and  on  the  8th  of  September  an  edict 
was  published  for  suppressing  the  office  of  captain-general, 
which  had  been  held   by  Perrin.^     On   the  other  side,  the 

1  P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  vii.,  p.  120. 

2  "But  because  the  council  were  of  opinion  that  nothing  should  be  done 
by  arbitrary  violence,  they  pardoned  for  the  present  a  manifest  conspiracy. 
The  lieutenant  was  only  reprimanded  for  having  lent  himself  to  those  fac- 
tious men  in  so  unjust  a  cause." — Ep.  207. 

3  <'  Obgleich  in  diesem  Process  viel  von  Reformation  mid  kirchlichen 
Dingen  die  Rede  ist,  und  derselbe  dem  Anschein  nach  einen  kirchlich- 
religiosen  Z  week  hat,  so  war  er  doch  rein  politisch,  und  das  Religiose  war 
nur  Aeusserliche." — P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  vii.,  p.  122. 

*  P.  Henry,  iii,,  380,  &  Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographiques. 


uL  FEELING  BETWEEN  BERNE  AND  GENEVA.       33i 

fugitives,  under  the  protection  of  Berne,  committed  outrages 
on  such  citizens  of  Geneva  as  they  found  on  the  Bernese  ter- 
ritories, and  attacked  Calvin  and  the  Genevese  council  with 
all  sorts  of  reproaches  and  calumnies.^  All  this  tended  to 
augment  the  ill-feeling  vi^hich  had  been  growing  up  between 
the  two  cities,  although  their  mutual  interests  at  this  juncture 
demanded  a  renewal  of  the  alliance  which  was  about  to  ex- 
pire. Calvin's  stiffness  presented  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the 
accomplishment  of  this  object ;  and  BuUinger  earnestly  begged 
him  to  make  concessions  for  the  sake  of  peace.*  The  cantons 
of  Zurich,  Bale,  and  Schaffhausen,  exerted  their  mediation 
without  effect.  Berne  authorized  the  exiles  to  make  reprisals 
on  Genevese  citizens,  as  the  government  of  Geneva  refused 
to  restore  them  to  their  estates.  The  bailiff  of  Ternier,  in 
the  jurisdiction  of  Berne,  in  whose  province  the  fugitives  had 
committed  some  violence  on  Genevese  subjects,  having  been 
applied  to  by  the  procureur-general  of  Geneva  for  justice, 
even  gave  a  sentence  by  which  he  liberated  the  exiles  from 
the  condemnation  passed  on  them  by  the  council  of  Geneva, 
and  condemned  the  syndics,  council,  and  people  of  that  city, 
to  make  them  reparation,  to  beg  their  pardon,  and  to  pay  the 
costs  of  the  suit.^  This  sentence  caused  much  alarm  and 
indignation  at  Geneva ;  but,  on  an  appeal  to  Berne,  it  was 
superseded.  At  length,  the  victory  gained  by  Emmanuel 
Philibert,  Prince  of  Piemont,  over  Henry  II.,  at  Sf  Quentin, 
in  August,  1557,  which  threatened  both  cities  with  danger, 
induced  them  to  renew  their  alliance  in  the  following  Novem- 
ber."* During  this  interval  of  alarm,  the  Genevese  having 
published  on  the  12th  of  October  a  permission  for  all  foreign- 
ers who  wished  to  do  so  to  retire  from  their  city,  so  far  was 
any  one  from  quitting  it,  that  two  days  afterward  nearly 
three  hundred  refugees  were  admitted  as  citizens.^ 

1  Ruchat,  vi.,  141.  2  Trechsel,  i.,  206. 

3  Ruchat,  vi.,  190.  ^  4  Jbid,  p.  228. 

6  "  On  recoit  trois-cents  habitans  le  meme  matin,  s^avoir,  deux-cents 
Franqais,  cinquante  Anglais,  vingt-cinq  Italiens,  quatre  Espagnols,  &c.; 
tellement  que  I'antichambre  du  Conseil  ne  les  pouvoit  tous  contenir." — R6- 
gistres,  14  Oct.,  1557.    Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographiques. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

Controversy  with  the  Lutherans — Attacks  ofWestphal — Calvin  answers 
him — Calvin's  Violence — Urges  Melancthon  to  declare  himself— Mission 
of  Farel  and  Beza — Their  Disingenuousness — Bullinger  Offended — The 
Marian  Exiles — "Trouhles  of  Frankfort" — Lutheran  Persecutions — Cal- 
vin visits  Frankfort — Return  of  the  Marian  Exiles. 

DuPwiNG  these  disputes  with  his  enemies  at  home,  and  with 
the  Bernese  clergy,  Calvin  was  also  engaged  in  a  controversy 
with  some  of  the  Lutheran  divines  on  the  subject  of  the  eu- 
charist.  While  he  was  residing  at  Strasburgh,  the  Luther- 
ans had  regarded  him  as  belonging  to  their  church  ;  although 
in  the  confession  which  he  had  delivered  in  to  the  ministers  of 
that  city,  in  1539,  he  had  as  little  recognized  a  corporal  pres- 
ence in  the  eucharist  as  a  merely  symbolical  one.  The  Swiss 
church  had  also  suspected  him  of  Lutheranism  ;  but  the  Zu- 
rich Consensus  in  1549  at  once  dissipated  this  feeling,  and 
altered  his  position  with  regard  to  the  Lutherans.  In  that 
confession  it  was  taught  that  the  bread  and  wine  are  signs, 
with  which  (but  not  in,  under,  or  through  them)  the  true 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  communicated  to  the  faithful  by 
a  peculiar  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Thus,  although  the 
belief  in  the  actual  presence  of  Christ  in  His  human  nature, 
and  in  His  reception  through  the  mouth,  and  consequently  the 
literal  interpretation  of  the  words  of  the  institution,  were  re- 
jected ;  yet  this  doctrine  was  not  actually  so  much  at  variance 
with  the  Lutheran  as  it  appeared  to  be.  For  Calvin's  con- 
tained the  following  propositions :  1 .  Though  the  bread  and 
wine  are  mere  signs,  they  are  not  empty  signs,  but  pledges  of 
the  thing  signified.  2.  The  body  of  Christ  is  really  and  ef- 
fectually present  in  the  supper,  but  not  locally  and  in  sub- 
stance, since  His  body  is  in  heaven,  and  no  body  possesses 
ubiquity.  3.  The  body  of  Christ  is  actually  received,  and  not 
merely  in  imagination,  at  the  time  when  the  bread  is  taken  : 
and  this  through  the  operation,  of  faith,  in  a  mystical  and 
hyper-physical  manner.  These,  says  Matthes,^  are  the  chief 
points  of  Calvin's  doctrine  of  the  eucharist,  as  gradually  de- 
veloped in  his  different  works  ;  and  the  question  arose  whether 
I  Leben  Melanctkons,  p.  341. 


ATTACKS  OF  WESTPHAL.  333 

such  a  presence  could  be  called  a  true  and  actual  one  ?  The 
more  bigoted  Lutherans  maintained  that  it  could  not,  and  re- 
quired an  exact  conformity  with  Luther's  propositions. 

In  the  Wittenberg  Concordat  of  1536,  the  Lutheran  divines 
had,  indeed,  contented  themselves  with  the  general  idea  of  a 
corporal  presence,  without  deeming  it  essential  to  explain  the 
manner  of  it.  Nay,  Melancthon,  and  some  of  the  more  mod- 
erate men  of  that  church,  seemed  to  be  gradually  inclining 
toward  Calvin's  view ;  and  there  was  some  prospect,  since 
Luther's  death,  that  all  the  Protestant  churches  would  be 
ultimately  united  with  regard  to  that  sacrament.^  In  the 
year  1552,  however,  this  tendency  toward  harmony  was  dis- 
turbed by  Joachim  Westphal,  a  Lutheran  minister  of  Ham- 
burgh, who  published  an  attack  upon  the  Zurich  Consensus 
of  Calvin  and  Bullinger.^  In  this  book  Westphal  mooted  the 
difficult  question  of  the  manner  of  the  presence  ;  and  thus,  by 
wishing  to  establish  a  dogmatical  conclusion,  put  an  end  to 
all  hopes  of  agreement.  He  was  very  severe  and  sarcastic 
upon  the  Zwinglians  and  Calvinists,  and  enumerated  twenty- 
eight  different  interpretations  of  the  words  of  the  institution, 
made  by  the  Sacramentaries,  whereas  the  Lutherans  had 
always  been  of  one  mind.  Pie  excited  other  doctors  of  his 
church  to  push  the  quarrel  vigorously ;  and  concluded  with 
declaring  that  the  basphemies  of  the  Sacrementaries  deserved 
to  be  reiiited  by  the  rod  of  the  magistrate  rather  than  by  the 
pen. 

As  neither  Calvin,  nor  any  of  the  Swiss  ministers,  noticed 
this  performance,  Westphal  put  forth  another  tract  in  the 
following  year,^  in  which  he  exhorted  the  Lutherans  to  defend 
their  doctrine  against  the  progress  of  Zwinglianism.  John 
Stoltz,  a  theologian  of  Wittenberg,  also  published  a  "  Defense 
of  Luther,"  and  thus  the  flame  of  controversy  was  lighted  up 
again  throughout  Germany.  The  feeling  thus  excited  soon 
discovered  itself  in  an  act  of  barbarity  disgraceful  to  men  jiro- 
fessing  to  be  Christians.  In  September,  1553,  John  A'Lasco, 
a  noble  Pole,  and  superintendent  of  the  foreign  Reformed 
churches  in  London,  in  order  to  avoid  the  persecution  then 
breaking  out  in  England,  hired  some  vessels  for  the  purpose 
of  transporting  himself,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  other 
persons,  to  the  continent.     A'Lasco's  vessel  was  driven,  by 

1  P.  Henry,  iii.,  298,  et  seq.     Compare  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  170. 

2  The  title  of  Westphal's  book  was,  '•  Farrago  confxisaneartim  et  inter  se 
dissidentium  Opiniomim  de  Ccend  Domini,  ex  Sacramentarionan  LibrL 
congesta." — Ruchat,  vi.,  6, 

3  Entitled,  "■  Reda  Fides  de  Ccend  Domini,"  &c. — liucha't,  1.  c 


334  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

stress  of  weather,  into  Elsinore ;  but,  though  the  storm  was 
still  raging,  the  Lutheran  magistrates  compelled  him  and  his 
company  to  re-embark  immediately,  though  all  they  asked 
was  an  asylum  for  the  winter.  They  experienced  no  better 
reception  in  the  German  towns.  Lubeck  and  Rostock  refused 
to  harbor  them ;  Hamburgh  would  only  afford  shelter  to 
A.'Lasco's  children  till  the  spring.  At  length  the  fugitives 
found  refuge  at  Dantzic,  and  A'Lasco  himself  an  honorable 
reception  at  Emden,  from  the  Countess  Anne  of  Olden- 
mrgh. 

Calvin  was  first  informed  of  these  cruelties  by  Peter  Martyr, 
who  was  then  at  Strasburgh,  in  a  letter  dated  in  May,  1554. 
Calvin  now  determined  to  take  up  his  pen  against  Westphal, 
who  had  made  himself  conspicuous  in  persecuting  the  fugi- 
tives, whom  he  styled  "  the  devil's  martyrs."  In  his  second 
tract  against  Westphal,  Calvin  alludes  to  this  subject  as  fol- 
lows :  "  His  outcry  against  the  poor  fugitives  is  a  very  evident 
mark  of  his  cruelty.  He  has  not  contented  himself  with  pre- 
venting them  from  finding  shelter,  and  with  obliging  them  to 
disperse  in  the  midst  of  a  very  rigorous  winter,  Avhen  they 
begged  to  repose  a  little,  and,  as  it  were,  to  recover  breath ; 
but,  as  far  as  lies  in  his  power,  would  exterminate  them  from 
the  world.  But  though  pity  and  compassion  aroused  a  just 
auger  in  me,  with  which,  unless  I  had  a  heart  harder  than 
iron,  I  could  not  but  be  touched  on  seeing  these  strange  calam- 
i  ties  of  my  brethren ;  yet  I  confess,  nevertheless,  that  I  have 
been  deceived.  I  thought  that  some  cause  had  been  given  to 
Westphal,  and  those  of  his  sentiments,  to  be  thus  unreasonably 
hot :  but  I  now  see  that  our  not  approving  of  their  conclusions 
suffices  to  incite  them  to  a  strange  and  barbarous  cruelty 
against  all  of  us  indifferently  ;  and  that  they  are  bursting  with 
such  venomous  pride  against  us,  that  they  would  rather  have 
peace  with  the  Turks,  and  brotherhood  with  the  Papists,  than 
any  truce  with  us."^ 

But,  however  indignant  against  Westphal,  whose  conduct 
had  very  naturally  aroused  his  anger,  Calvin  did  not  at  first 
enter  into  a  direct  and  personal  controversy  with  him,  but 
rather  made  use  of  the  occasion  to  reassert  his  doctrine  respect- 
ing the  Lord's  Supper ;  with  which  view  he  got  BulUnger, 
and  the  other  Swiss  ministers,  to  unite  with  him  in  publishing 
a  common  manifesto,  which  may  be  regarded  as  a  renewal 
and  confirmation  of  the  Zurich  Conse7isus.  In  this  work 
Calvin  did  not  attack  Westphal  by  name  ;  but  he  alluded  to 

1  See  the  Frencli  tract,  quoted  by  P.  Henry,  iii.,  303,  uote. 


CALVIN  ANSWERS  WESTPHAL.  335 

him  in  several  passages  that  could  not  be  mistaken.^  Calvin 
was  apt  to  give  way  to  temper  in  his  controversies,  and  to 
treat  his  opponents  with  a  coarseness  which  exceeded  even  the 
limits  permitted  by  the  manners  of  his  time.  As  the  book, 
however,  was  to  be  subscribed  by  Bullinger,  the  manuscript 
was  sent  to  him  for  approval.  Bullinger  refused  to  put  his 
name  to  it  till  some  of  these  offensive  allusions  were  struck 
out ;  and  thus  it  was  owing  to  him  that  it  appeared  clothed 
in  more  decent  language.^  In  a  letter  to  Bullinger  on  this 
subject,  Calvin  says :  "  I  have  corrected  those  things  in  my 
epistle  which  seemed  too  harshly  spoken  against  Joachim. 
Yet  I  applied  the  term  nebulo  (rascal)  to  him  in  another  sense 
than  you  suppose.  I  did  not  mean  criminal  ov  furcifer,  but 
as  the  ancients  spoke,  a  ivorthless,  skulking  felloiQ,  or  tenebrio. 
I  have  also  expunged  the  epithet  beasts  ^  This  last  was  an- 
other pet  term  of  Calvin's. 

The  work  was  published  toward  the  close  of  1554,  pre- 
ceded by  an  epistle  thus  amended,  addressed  to  the  faithful 
ministers  of  Christ  at  Zurich,  Berne,  Basle,  Schaffhausen, 
and  several  other  Swiss  towns.  A  reprint  of  the  work  ap- 
peared the  following  year  at  Zurich,  with  a  postscript  by  Bul- 
linger. Calvin  also  published  a  French  version  of  it,  in  order 
that  the  Genevese  might  be  made  acquainted  with  the  merits 
of  the  question.  The  pith  of  its  doctrine  is  contained  in  the 
following  sentence  :  "  Christ,  therefore,  is  absent  from  us  in 
body  :  but  dwelling  spiritually  within  us,  so  lifts  us  up  toward 
heaven  as  to  transfuse  into  us  the  vivifying  power  of  his  flesh, 
just  as  we  are  nourished  by  the  vital  heat  of  the  sun,  by  means 
of  its  rays."^ 

Westphal  published  an  answer  to  Calvin's  work  at  Frank- 
fort, in  which  he  again  outrageously  attacked  A'Lasco  and 
his  brother  exiles.  Calvin  hesitated  whether  he  should  reply. 
We  find  him  writing  to  Farel  (October  10th,  1555),  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Westphal  has  published  a  virulent  book  against  me, 
to  which  I  know  not  whether  I  ought  to  reply.  Some  of  my 
friends  ask  me  to  do  so  :  when  I  shall  have  thoroughly  read 
it,  the  Lord  will  give  me  counsel."^  The  attacks  made  upon 
him  on  all  sides  by  the  Lutherans,  and  especially  by  Brenz,  in 
his  sermons  at  Wurtemberg,  seem  at  length  to  have  induced 

^  "  And  that  nobody  may  consider  the  door  of  repentance  to  be  shut  against 
him,  I  will  shortly  allude  to  only  one  person,  and  that  without  mentioning 
bis  name." — Conaensio,  Sec,  Opera,  viii.,  651,  B. 

'  Leben  Calvins,  iii.,  BeiJ.  117. 

3  MS.  Tig.,  Nov.  13th,  1554,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  307,  note. 

*  Cousensio,  Sec,  p.  G58,  A.  ^  Ep.  210. 


336  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

him  to  take  up  his  pen;  and  in  1556  appeared  his  second 
work  against  Westphal,  entitled,  "  A  Second  Defense  of  the 
Pious  and  Orthodox  Faith  concerning  the  Sacraments  against 
the  Calumnies  of  Joachim  Westphal."  This  was  answered 
in  the  following  year,  not  only  by  Westphal  himself,  but  by 
Schneff  and  some  others  ;  so  that  Calvin  complained  to  Bul- 
linger  that  the  Lutherans  seemed  to  have  entered  into  a  con- 
spiracy to  overwhelm  them  with  books. ^  The  controversy 
grew  hotter  as  it  proceeded.  Calvin  was  again  reproved  by 
Bullinger  for  his  virulence ;  and  attempted  to  excuse  himself 
by  the  haste  in  which  his  work  was  written,  and  by  an  attempt 
at  a  joke.  In  a  letter  to  that  pastor  he  says  :  "  I  see  that  I 
have  been  rather  more  vehement  than  I  had  intended,  but,  in 
some  way  or  another,  I  forgot .  myself  in  dictating  the  book. 
If  it  should  give  offense  I  can  at  least  testify  that  it  was  not 
ivritten  by  me.  But,  joking  apart,  I  hope  it  will  be  accept- 
able enough  to  you  and  to  the  rest  of  the  brethren,  not  to 
stand  in  need  of  an  excuse."^ 

A  whole  year  for  reflection  did  not  produce  any  amendment 
in  this  respect.  Calvin  was  again  attacked,  and  again  replied 
with  still  greater  violence  and  coarseness.^  Even  his  friend 
Farel  saw  and  lamented  this  failing.  Though  he  approved 
of  Calvin's  defense  of  the  Co7isen&its,  he  advised  him  to  con- 
fine himself  to  the  thing,  and  to  spare  persons.  He  exhorted 
him  not  to  be  betrayed  into  the  same  violence  as  his  oppo- 
nents ;  by  which  he  would  afford  an  agreeable  spectacle  to 
their  enemies,  and  offend  those  who,  though  they  opposed 
him,  were  still  his  brethren.*  Calvin,  however,  seems  to 
have  considered  that  he  was  doing  God  an  acceptable  serv- 
ice by  these  virulent  outbreaks,  and  by  incurring  the  odium 
which  they  could  not  fail  to  draw  down  upon  him.  In  a 
letter  to  Farel,  in  August,  1557,  he  says  :  "  With  regard  to 
Westphal  and  the  rest,  it  was  difficult  to  follow  your  advice 
and  be  calm.  You  call  those  '  brothers,'  who,  if  that  name 
be  oflered  to  them  by  us,  do  not  only  reject,  but  execrate  it. 
And  how  ridiculous  should  we  appear  in  bandying  the  name 
of  brother  with  those  who  look  upon  us  as  the  worst  of  her- 
etics I"  ^  And  in  another  to  Bullinger  about  the  same  time 
we  find  :  "  You  shall  judge  how  dexterously  I  have  treated 
the  Saxons.     I  have  sent  the  book  before  it  was  complete, 

1  P.  Henry,  iii.,  315. 

2  MS.  Tig.,  Jan  23d,  1556,  Ibid.,  317. 

3  This  was  his  "  Ultima  Admoiiitio  Joannis  Calvini  ad  loachimum  West- 
vhalum,"  &c.,  published  in  August,  1557. 

♦  Kirchhofer,  ii.,  130.  5  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  326 


CALVIN'S  VIOLENCE.  337 

rather  than  hold  you  in  suspense.  Though  I  know  that  I 
shall  excite  the  hatred  of  them  all,  it  will  be  no  small  con- 
solation to  me  if,  in  the  discharge  of  my  duty,  I  shall  at 
least  gain  your  approbation.  I  have,  indeed,  not  hesitated 
cheerfully  and  fearlessly  to  provoke  the  fury  of  those  beasts 
against  me,  because  I  am  confident  that  it  will  be  pleasing 
to  God  !"^ 

In  reading  such  passages  as  these,  we  are  almost  over- 
whelmed with  surprise,  that  a  man  of  Calvin's  intellect  and 
learning  could,  in  spite  of  the  repeated  admonitions  of  his  best 
friends,  have  persevered  in  so  utterly  misinterpreting  and  per- 
verting the  mild  and  charitable  precepts  of  the  gospel.  That, 
when  unblinded  by  passion,  he  could  see  the  fit  and  proper 
course,  appears  from  other  letters.  Thus,  writing  to  Schaling, 
a  pastor  of  the  church  of  Ratisbon,  in  April,  1557,  he  says : 
"  It  is,  indeed,  to  be  lamented,  that  we  who  profess  the  same 
gospel  should  be  distracted  by  different  opinions  on  the  subject 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  ought  to  be  the  chief  bond  of 
union  among  us.  But  what  is  by  far  more  atrocious,  we  con- 
tend with  as  much  hostihty  as  if  we  had  no  Christian  connec- 
tion ;  and  the  greater  part  of  those  who  differ  from  us,  I  know 
not  from  what  impulse,  boil  over  as  intemperately  against  us 
as  if  our  religion  were  wholly  different.  As  there  w^as  at  first  so 
much  discrepancy  on  this  subject,  I  do  not  wonder  that  Lu- 
ther, who  was  of  a  vehement  temper,  was  somewhat  warmer 
than  he  ought  to  have  been.  But  now  when  we  are  agreed 
as  to  the  chief  points,  namely,  for  what  purpose  the  Lord 
instituted  sacraments  ;  what  is  their  proper  use,  efficacy,  and 
dignity  ;  and  what  the  advantages  they  procure  for  us  ;  the 
remaining  articles  of  controversy  might  surely  have  been 
treated  with  more  moderation.  With  regard  to  myself,  after 
[  had  faithfully  endeavored  for  fifteen  years  to  frame  my  doc- 
trine so  as  to  avoid  discord  as  much  as  an  ingenuous  profes- 
sion of  the  truth  would  allow,  the  importunity  of  your  coun- 
tryman, Westphal,  dragged  me  into  an  odious  dispute.  Yet 
I  have  diligently  restrained  whatever  bitterness  he  extorted 
from  me,  lest  he  should  involve  others  besides  himself;  and 
I  will  always  take  care  that  the  churches  shall  not  be  torn 
and  divided  through  my  fault,  nor  that  any  one  shall  be 
injured  by  me,  unless  he  professedly  attacks  me.'"^ 

It  is  difficult  to  reconcile  a  passage  like  this  with  the  dec- 
larations before  quoted,  or  to  consider  it  as  sincere.  The  last 
avowal  it  contains  is  striking.  After  enumerating  and  dwell- 
1  MS.  Tig.,  Ibid.  »  Ep.  236. 


338  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ing  upon  the  causes  and  the  blessings  of  peace,  and  lamenting 
the  want  of  union  as  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity, 
Calvin  declares  himself  ready  to  renounce  all  these  excellent 
precepts  the  moment  he  is  iier&oiially  attacked,  and  to  de- 
scend into  a  contest  of  virulence  and  abuse  with  the  first  in- 
temperate adversary  that  may  assail  him.  Did  it  never  occur 
to  him  that  the  conduct  and  example  of  a  Christian  minister 
may  be  at  least  as  efficacious  for  good  as  the  most  methodical 
and  elaborate  arguments,  or  the  choicest  vituperation  in  the 
very  best  Latin  ?  Did  he  always  forget  the  Christian  pre- 
cept, to  forgive  our  enemies,  and  to  offer  another  cheek  to 
those  who  smite  us?  In  Westphal,  however,  Calvin  had 
found  his  match  in  violence.  He  grew  tired  of  the  contest, 
and  left  Beza  to  finish  it. 

We  have  remarked  that  in  this  controversy  the  Lutheran 
church  was  itself  divided  ;  and  that  a  considerable  portion  of 
it,  at  the  head  of  which  was  Melancthon,  inclined  toward 
Calvin's  views.  That  Reformer  had,  indeed,  rejected  the 
doctrine  of  the  physical  conjunction  of  the  body  of  Christ  with 
the  sacramental  bread,  before  he  knew  Calvin,  as  appears 
from  some  letters  addressed  to  Schneff,  Agricola,  and  Brenz, 
in  the  years  1534  and  1535.^  When  the  controversy  broke 
out  afresh,  Calvin  earnestly  pressed  Melancthon  to  declare 
himself,  but  he  kept  aloof.  In  August,  1554,  when  Calvin 
was  busy  with  his  first  work  against  Westphal,  we  find  him 
writing  to  Melancthon  as  follows  :  "  You  see  how  ignorant 
and  turbulent  men  are  renewing  in  your  parts  the  sacramental 
controversy,  while  the  good  lament  and  complain  of  the  en- 
couragement which  your  silence  gives  them  ;  for  notwith- 
standing the  audacity  natural  to  ignorance,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that,  if  you  could  make  up  your  mind  to  avow  your  real 
sentiments  more  freely,  you  might,  in  some  degree  at  least, 
put  a  stop  to  their  violence.  At  the  same  time,  I  do  not  so 
far  forget  the  condition  of  human  nature,  as  not  to  note,  and 
bid  others  note,  what  sort  of  men  you  have  to  deal  with  ;  how 
anxious  and  perplexed  the  disturbed  state  of  affairs  must  ren- 
der you,  and  by  how  many  obstacles  you  must  be  impeded. 
Yet  nothing  can  justify  you  in  giving  the  reins,  by  means  of 
your  dissimulation,  to  those  headstrong  men  who  disturb  and 
dissipate  our  churches  ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  preciousness  to 
ourselves  of  an  ingenuous  profession  of  the  true  faith.  You 
are  aware  that  for  more  than  thirty  years  the  eyes  of  midti- 
tudes  are  fixed  upon  you,  and  that  they  would  desire  nothing 

I  See  Matthes,  I^ben  Melancthons,  p.  349. 


URGES  MELANCTHON  TO  DECLARE  HIMSELF.       339 

more  than  to  obey  you.  Surely  you  are  not  ignorant  that  the 
ambiguous  mode  of  teaching  to  which  you  too  timidly  confine 
yourself,  causes  many  to  remain  in  doubt.  If  you  can  not 
sincerely  and  truly  profess  what  would  be  very  useful  to  be 
known,  you  might  at  least  endeavor  to  restrain  the  violence 
of  those  who  create  a  causeless  disturbance.  What,  I  pray, 
do  they  wish  ?  Luther  professed,  throughout  his  life,  that  all 
he  contended  for  was  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments.  Well, 
it  is  agreed  that  they  are  not  empty  symbols,  but  really  im- 
part what  they  typify  :  that  in  baptism  the  efficacy  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  present,  to  cleanse  and  regenerate  us  ;  that  the 
Lord's  Supper  is  a  spiritual  feast,  in  which  we  are  really  fed 
with  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  The  cause,  therefore, 
seems  too  promising  than  that  the  fear  of  odium  should  deter 
us  from  appeasing  the  strife  raised  by  certain  absurd  per- 
sons ;  into  whose  broils,  however,  you  can  hardly  avoid  being 
dragged  in  the  post  which  you  occupy."  ^ 

Although  in  this  letter  Calvin  appears  very  desirous  of  ob- 
taining the  concurrence  and  co-operation  of  Melancthon,  he 
speaks  very  slightingly,  not  to  say  contemptuously,  of  him,  in 
a  letter  addressed  to  Sleidan,  on  the  very  same  day.  In  this 
he  says,  "  How  far  I  should  congratulate  myself  on  Philip's 
agreeing  with  me  on  one  point  I  know  not,  when  in  the  chief 
heads  of  doctrine  he  either  sells  himself  to  the  philosophers 
and  opposes  the  truth,  or,  lest  he  should  excite  the  anger  of 
certain  persons  against  him,  cunningly,  or,  at  all  events,  dis- 
ingenuously conceals  his  opinions."* 

In  the  spring  of  1555,  we  find  Calvin  again  urging  Melanc- 
thon on  the  same  subject,  and  exhorting  him  to  declare  him- 
self, without  fearing  either  banishment  or  death.^  The  object 
of  this  letter  seems  to  have  been  to  extract  an  opinion  from 
Melancthon  in  writing  ;  as  Calvin  mentions  his  work  against 
Westphal,  which  had  been  subscribed  by  the  Swiss  churches, 
and  states,  that  he  was  anxiously  expecting  Melancthon's 
opinion  upon  it.  The  latter,  in  a  very  short  answer,'*  pur- 
posely avoids  the  subject,  and  says  that  he  shall  write  nothing 
concerning  Calvin's  opponents.  Another  letter  of  Calvin's  in 
August  of  the  same  year,  closes  the  correspondence.^  To 
this,  Melancthon,  who  probably  disliked  his  importunity,  seems 
to  have  returned  no  answer,  and  their  intercourse  ceased  for 
two  years  ;  for  when  Calvin  next  addressed  him  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  diet  of  Worms,  in  August,  1557,  he  complained 

1  Ep.  179.  2  Ep.  183,  Aug.  27th,  1554.  ^  Ep.  203. 

*  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  205.  »  Ep.  210. 


340  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

that  he  had  not  heard  from  him  for  that  space  of  time.' 
Melancthon,  however,  went  to  his  grave  without  declaring 
himself 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  Melancthon's  example  would 
have  gone  nigh  to  settle  this  controversy  :  and  that  had  he 
openly  avowed  the  sentiments  he  really  entertained  respecting 
the  eucharist,  he  would  have  been  followed  by  the  greater 
part  of  the  Lutheran  church.  In  his  last  work  against  West- 
phal,  Calvin  wrote  that  he  could  be  as  little  separated  from 
Melancthon  on  this  point  as  he  could  from  his  own  heart.* 
On  the  other  hand,  Melancthon's  silence  gave  the  opposite 
party  an  opportunity  to  claim  him  for  their  own,  for  which 
purpose  they  collected  passages  out  of  his  earlier  writings  ; 
and  Westphal  gave  out  that  he  would  prove  to  all  the  world 
that  Melancthon,  at  all  events  during  the  lifetime  of  Luther, 
had  never  thought  with  the  sacramentaries.^ 

Melancthon's  conduct,  by  his  own  confession,  proceeded 
from  the  fear  of  offending  the  court.  "  Had  he  followed  the 
dictates  of  his  own  heart,"  says  Matthes,*  "  he  would  un- 
doubtedly have  declared  for  the  Calvinistic  view  ;  but  how 
could  he  venture  upon  this  when  the  court  deemed  it  a  point 
of  honor  to  have  true  Lutheran  teachers  ?"  To  the  electoral 
councilor,  Ulrich  Mordeisen,  who  had  required  him  not  to 
withhold  his  opinion  any  longer,  he  wrote  in  1556  :  "  I  am 
confident  that  in  this  article  your  court  will  not  tolerate  the 
defense  of  the  true  doctrine.  I  would  therefore  rather  not 
begin  at  all,  than  be  ordered  to  lay  aside  what  I  had  begun, 
to  the  prejudice  of  truth."  This  subserviency  was  the  weak 
point  of  Melancthon's  character,  as  he  was  himself  fully  sens- 
ible. Thus  we  find  him  writing  to  Christopher  von  Carlow- 
Hz,  in  1548  :  "  I  am,  perhaps,  by  nature  of  a  somewhat  servile 
disposition,  and  I  have  before  endured  an  altogether  unseemly 
servitude  ;  as  Luther  more  frequently  obeyed  his  tempera- 
ment, in  which  was  no  little  contentiousness,  than  regarded 
his  own  dignity  and  the  common  good."^ 

Some  occurrences  of  the  year  1557,  though  rather  out  of 
their  chronological  order,  may  be  mentioned  here,  as  forming 
a  sequel  to  the  controversy  just  described.  In  the  spring  of 
that  year,  the  Waldenses,  in  the  valley  of  Angrogne,  being 

^  "  How  it  happens  that  you  have  not  answered  my  letters ^or  three  whole 
years  I  know  not." — Ep.  242.  Triennio  here  must  be  either  a  sUp  of  Cal- 
vin's, or  a  misprint  for  biennio. 

2  0/?era,  viii.,  687,  B.  ^  M^tthas,  Leben  Mel ancthons,\^.'ibl. 

*  Ibid.  5  Ibid.,  p.  288,  289. 


MISSION  OF  FAREL  AND  BEZA.  341 

threatened  with  extirpation,  appealed  to  their  friends  at 
Geneva  and  Neufchatel  for  assistance.  Farel  and  Beza  un- 
dertook their  cause  ;  and  after  visiting  Berne,  Zurich,  Schaff 
hausen,  and  Basle,  which  towns  they  persuaded  to  send  em- 
bassies to  the  French  court  in  favor  of  the  persecuted  Wald- 
enses,  proceeded  to  Montbelliard  and  Strasburgh,  and  thence 
into  the  electorate.  Though  every  where  well  received,  Farel 
and  Beza  could  not  help  remarking  some  feeling  of  animosity 
toward  them  among  the  Lutherans,  on  account  of  Calvin's 
books,  as  well  as  some  misgivings  with  regard  to  their  ortho- 
doxy on  the  subject  of  the  sacraments.  Diller,  the  elector's 
chaplain,  seemed  to  accept  what  they  said  in  explanation  ; 
but  the  elector  himself  was  absent,  and  it  was  necessary  that 
he  should  be  satisfied.  Farel  and  Beza  referred  to  Calvin's 
"  Institutes  ;"  but  as  the  elector  required  a  more  explicit  dec- 
laration, they  handed  in  a  formal  confession  of  faith.  They 
were  met  with  the  same  objections  at  the  court  of  Duke 
Christopher  of  Wurtemberg,  where  they  were  given  to  under- 
stand that  nothing  could  be  done  for  the  Waldenses,  unless 
they  produced  the  confession  of  that  people  concerning  the 
Lord's  Supper.  In  vain  Farel  and  Beza  affirmed  that  the 
Waldensian  creed  on  that  point  was  the  same  as  that  ex- 
pressed in  the  Co7isensus  of  the  Swiss  churches.  A  German 
version  of  the  confession  of  the  Waldenses  was  produced,  in 
which  it  was  pointed  out  that  they  spoke  too  lightly  on  that 
sacred  subject.  Farel  and  Beza  were  also  again  invited  to 
give  in  a  confession ;  and  the  friendly  reception  which  they 
had  met  with,  the  desire  of  saving  the  Waldenses,  and  the 
hope  of  making  a  step  toward  the  union  of  the  Swiss  and  Lu- 
theran churches,  induced  them  to  comply.  A  confession  was 
accordingly  tendered,  which  purported  to  be  agreeable  to  the 
principles  of  the  Swiss  and  Savoyard  churches,  and  to  which 
they  signed  their  names.  It  was  much  the  same  as  that  given 
to  Diller,  only  drawn  up  with  greater  care  ;  and  it  was  briefly 
expressed,  in  order  that  it  might  be  explained  at  some  future 
opportunity.  Words  were  employed  which  had  not  hitherto 
been  used  in  the  confessions  of  the  Swiss  churches,  as  substaii- 
tia  and  representandi,  but  which  Farel  and  Beza  thought  un- 
objectionable, and  whose  meaning  they  limited  by  other  terras ; 
but  which  were  subsequently  taken,  and  indeed  very  naturally, 
in  their  absolute  sense.  In  short,  it  is  plain  that  they  had  tam- 
pered with  the  Swiss  confession :  "But,"  says  Kirchhofer,  "as 
they  were  not  acting  in  the  name  of  the  church,  but  only  in 
their  private  capacity,  they  feared  no  danger,  and  still  less  wish* 


342  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ed  to  be  false  to  the  Co?isensus.'"  ^  How  two  public  embassa- 
dors were  acting  only  in  a  private  capacity  is  not  explained. 
They,  themselves,  however,  thought  that  they  had  done  a 
good  thing  ;  they  fancied  that  they  had  brought  over  Duke 
Christopher,  and  that  a  union  with  the  Lutherans  would  be 
easy.  When  Farel  and  Beza  returned,  they  said  nothing 
of  these  confessions,  not  even  to  Calvin.  Shortly  afterward, 
however,  copies  were  sent  both  to  Zurich  and  Geneva.  Bul- 
linger  and  the  Zurich  ministers  were  naturally  indignant, 
and  regarded  the  whole  affair  as  a  concerted  scheme.  When 
Farel  heard  of  the  anger  of  the  Zurichers,  he  sent  the  confes 
sions  to  Viret  for  examination,  and  afterward  to  Calvin  ;  by 
whom  they  were  entirely  approved  of  Calvin  pardoned  the 
silence  of  his  friends ;  ^  and  he  and  Beza  sent  letters  of  apol- 
ogy and  explanation  to  Bullinger,  in  which  the  former  main- 
tained that  the  confessions  were  a  true  exposition  of  their 
faith ;  whereupon  Bullinger  charged  him  with  having  the 
duplicity  of  Bucer.^  Calvin  wished  a  general  synod  to  be 
called,  to  settle  these  differences,  but  this  was  opposed  by 
Bullinger. 

Beza,  living  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Berne,  had  more 
cause  lor  alarm,  since  the  Bernese  disliked  all  such  assump- 
tions of  personal  authority  as  he  had  been  guilty  of:  but 
Haller,  the  Bernese  minister,  was  generous  enough  to  express 
his  dissatisfaction  only  to  Bullinger.  Yet,  in  a  letter  to  that 
pastor,  he  could  not  help  saying  :  "  You  see  it  is  not  without 
reason  that  I  distrust  the  French  ministers ;  they  are  crafty 
fellows,  and  infected  with  the  spirit  of  Bucer."* 

This  breach  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  been  healed,  when 
another  occurred  on  the  same  subject  in  the  very  same  year. 
Persecution  had  broken  out  in  Paris  against  the  Calvinists. 
A  congregation  which  had  assembled  in  the  night-time,  in 
the  Rue  St.  Jacques,  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper,  was 
surprised  by  the  police,  and  many  persons  captured,  among 
whom  were  ladies  belonging  to  the  families  of  the  highest 
nobility.  The  fact  of  their  assembling  in  the  night-time  was 
made  a  handle  for  the  foulest  calumnies,  and  witnesses  were 
suborned  to  depose  to  circumstances  which  found  belief 
among  the  credulous  multitude.  Twenty-one  of  the  congre- 
gation were  burned,  by  seven  at  a  time.®  The  Parisian 
Protestants  sent  their  preacher,  CarmeJ,  and  also  Bude,  into 

1  Lehen  Farels,  ii.,  135.  '  Ruchat,  vi.,  205. 

3  p.  Heory,  iii.,  345.  *  Kirchhofer,  ii.,  138 

^  Beza,  Vita  Colv, 


DISINGEiNUOUSNESS  OF  FAREL  AND  BEZA.  343 

Switzerland,  to  acquaint  their  friends  there  with  their  situa- 
tion, and  to  beg  their  assistance  and  intercession. 

Farel  and  Beza  again  undertook  this  mission.  Accom- 
panied by  the  Parisian  deputies  they  visited  Zurich,  and 
succeeded  in  making  peace  with  Bulhnger.  They  thence 
proceeded  to  Berne,  and  prevailed  upon  the  magistrates  of 
that  town,  as  they  had  likewise  done  at  Zurich,  to  send  an 
embassy  to  France  in  favor  of  the  persecuted  Protestants. 
Thence  they  proceeded  to  Strasburgh  and  Worms ;  at  which 
latter  place  a  diet  was  sitting  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting 
religious  differences.  Farel  tried  to  induce  Calvin  to  attend 
this  diet  but  he  refused,  though  he  wrote  several  letters  to 
Melancthon,  who  took  an  active  part  in  it. 

Melancthon  received  the  missionaries  in  the  most  friendly 
manner ;  but,  as  on  the  former  occasion,  a  confession  of  faith 
was  required  of  them  before  they  could  be  recommended  to 
the  German  princes.  They  accordingly  handed  in  one  which 
seems  to  make  tolerably  large  concessions,  but  which  did  not 
satisfy  the  German  theologians.^  They  thought  that  it  con- 
tained only  the  doctrine  of  the  Swiss  churches,  and  demanded 
such  a  confession  as  the  French  prisoners  themselves  would 
make  ;  and  it  was  likewise  mentioned  that  it  was  desirable 
that  Farel  and  the  other  deputies  should  express  their  ap- 
proval of  the  Confession  of  Augsburg.  Beza  declared  his 
readiness  to  do  so,  provided  the  article  on  the  eucharist  were 
taken  with  Melancthon's  explanation,  viz.  :  "  We  follow  the 
words  of  St.  Paul ;  the  bread  is  the  communication  of  the 
body  :  that  is,  that  when  we  take  it,  the  Son  of  God  is  really 
present."^  This,  though  rather  obscure,  was  considered  suf- 
ficiently satisfactory  ;  and  the  German  theologians  gave  the 
deputies  a  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg,  in  which  they 
said,  among  other  things  :  "  That  they  had  never  approved  of 
secret  assemblies,  and  especially  these  nocturnal  ones,  in  which 
a   great  many  men,  women,  and  children,  met   in  isolated 

'  It  is  in  Rucbat,  vi.,  212,  et  seq.  It  states,  amoag  other  things,  that  the 
symbols  are  not  merely  naked  signs,  but  that  the  thing  itself  (i.  e.,  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ)  is  truly  and  certainly  joined  with  them,  whether  they 
he  proposed  to  the  faithful  or  to  the  unfaithful  (mais  que  les  symboles,  par 
rajjport  a  Dieu  qui  promet  et  qui  ofFre,  ont  toujours  la  chose  meme  veritable- 
ment  et  certainementjointe  avec  eux,  soit  qu'ils  soient  proposes  auxfideles, 
soit  aux  infideles).  This  was  certainly  going  beyond  Calvin,  who  held  that 
Christ's  body  was  received  only  through  faith. 

2  "  Sequimur  verba  Pauli :  Panis  est  Koivuvta  corporis  :  i.  e.,  res  ilia, 
quam  cum  sumimus,  Filius  Dei  vere  adest." — Matthes,  p.  362.  Melancthon 
himself  appears  to  have  drawn  up  the  confession  of  the  deputies.  See 
Schlosser,  Lebcii  Bezas,  p.  76,  note. 


344  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

houses ;  that  they  had  previously  dissuaded  these  people  from 
them,  and  told  them  it  was  hetter  that  every  one  should 
privately  read  and  pray  in  his  own  house  with  his  family 
and  servants ;  exhorting  them  to  teach  the  children  their 
catechism,  and  establish  other  exercises  of  piety  at  home  ; 
and  to  endeavor  as  much  as  possible  to  take  the  sacraments 
in  places  where  there  were  public  and  established  churches  ; 
and,  if  they  could  not  do  so,  to  abstain  altogether.  However,  as 
the  mischief  had  been  done,  they  had  asked  the  deputies  who 
had  come  to  solicit  an  intercession  for  the  prisoners,  for  a  con- 
fession of  faith  ;  and,  they  continued,  as  this  confession  per- 
fectly corresponds  with  ours — except  that  on  one  article  they 
express  themselves  too  obscurely  (on  which,  however,  they 
may  be  easily  admonished  in  a  legitimate  synod) — we  would 
not,  in  so  cruel  a  persecution  refuse  them  the  consolation  of  in- 
terceding." ^  Letters  to  the  same  purport  were  also  addressed 
to  the  Elector  Palatine,  the  Landgrave  Philip,  and  to  the 
Count  Palatine.  The  French  ministers,  therefore,  met  with 
a  tolerably  easy  success,  considering  the  disputes  which  had 
recently  been  so  violent ;  and  that  the  high  Lutheran  party 
mustered  in  such  strength  at  Worms,  that  Melancthon  was 
forced  to  make  many  concessions,  and  even  to  reject  in  sub- 
stance the  Zwinglian  doctrine,  and  to  reprobate  those  who 
would  not  accept  the  Augsburg  Confession."  ^ 

These  proceedings  were  a  new  rock  of  offense  to  BuUingei 
and  the  Zurichers.  An  angry  correspondence  ensued  between 
Bullinger  and  Calvin,  which  seems  to  have  lasted  for  a  year 
or  two,  in  which  the  former  complained  of  Beza's  having 
adopted  the  Lutheran  confession,  and  charged  Calvin  himself 
with  bad  faith,  in  having  introduced  into  the  laws  of  the  Gen- 
evese  academy  certain  words  not  recognized  by  the  Zurich 
Consensus.  In  answer  to  the  former  charge,  Calvin  pleaded 
the  necessity  of  the  case  ;  ^  to  the  latter  he  replied  with  some 
warmth  and  haughtiness.  "  The  accusation,"  he  said,  "  of 
bad  faith  has  inflicted  a  deeper  wound.  You  complain  that 
in  our  academic  laws  the  word  substance  has  been  used,  though 
it  had  been  agreed  that  it  should  not  be  employed.  What 
agreement  you  may  have  made  for  yourself  I  know  not,  but 

J  Ruchat,  vi.,  217. 

*  Matthes,  p.  364,  et  seq.  In  a  letter  to  Bullinger,  in  February,  1558, 
Calvin  says  :  "  The  unhappy  issue  of  the  conference  at  Worms  does  not 
ti-ouble  me  so  much  as  Melancthon's  levity  is  odious  and  vexatious  to  me." 
MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii,,  349. 

3  See  Calvin's  letter  to  Bullinger,  Dec.  10th,  1559,  in  Schlosser,  L^ben 
Bezas,  Beil.  299,  et  seq. 


BULLINGER  OFFENDED.  345 

certainly  this  never  escaped  froni  me.  But  I  did  not  object, 
forsooth,  when  you  made  such  a  proposal :  as  if  many  other 
ill-considered  things  were  not  said,  which  I  should  be  sorry 
to  mention.  A  false  reproach  is  bitter ;  but  to  a  free  man 
domination  is  intolerable.  I  have  not  yet  learned  to  speak 
servilely  at  the  nod  of  another,  nor  will  I  henceforth  begin. 
But  that  you  might  not  be  ignorant  of  what  I  shall  constantly 
uphold,  if  perchance  I  be  summoned  to  a  conference,  I  have 
endeavored  to  explain  the  sum  of  my  opinion,  which  I  will 
change  neither  publicly  nor  privately.  If  my  letter  should 
seem  an  angry  one,  consider  the  provocation  I  have  had ;  for 
I  would  rather  have  you  for  a  judge  than  for  an  adversary." 

To  this  paragraph  of  the  letter  Bullinger  appended  the  fol- 
lowing manuscript  note  :  "  If  words  like  these  occur  in  a  private 
letter,  and  Calvin  talks  so  bitterly  out  of  a  conference,  what 
would  he  do  in  one  ?  Is  not  this  passage  proof  enough  that 
we  must  not  come  into  personal  collision  ?"  ^  Subsequently, 
however,  this  breach  appears  to  have  been  healed  ;  for  in  a 
letter  to  Bullinger,  in  May,  1560,  we  find  Calvin  expressing 
his  intimate  agreement  with  him,  and  remarking  that  there 
was  nothing  to  be  hoped  for  from  "the  apes  of  Luther."^ 
Indeed  Calvin's  violent  controversy  with  Westphal  was  pledge 
enough  that  he  was  not  likely  to  adopt  their  views  :  and  in 
another  letter  to  an  anonymous  correspondent  about  the  same 
time,  he  says  :  "  Luther's  apes — for  he  left  but  few  imitators 
— unless  one  immediately  agrees  with  them  when  they  utter 
the  name  of  Wittenberg,  are  raising  great  disturbances  every 
where.  When  the  Co7tsensus  of  our  church  with  that  of 
Zurich  .was  published,  I  had  not  the  slightest  apprehension 
that  Westphal  would  make  it  an  occasion  of  controversy.  I 
was  then  compelled  to  embark  in  the  contest,  to  tame  the 
beast's  ferocity.  Afterward  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  many 
were  infected  with  the  same  fury.  But  I  think  that  I  have 
so  exposed  their  ignorance,  and  their  wicked  calumnies,  that 
all  persons  of  common  sense  will  despise  their  pride  and  vain 
boastings."^ 

Shortly  after  the  breaking  out  of  this  controversy  with 
Westphal,  Calvin's  mediation  was  sought  to  heal  a  breach 
in  the  church  of  the  English  exiles  settled  at  Frankfort.  As 
it  was  this  breach  which  gave  rise  to  the  "  Separation,"  and 
to  the  Puritan  party  afterward  destined  to  figure  so  conspicu- 

1  See  P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  112.  For  me  non  redd  mente,  in  that  page,  we 
should  read,  me  non  reclavianie.     See  Schlosser,  1.  c,  p.  302. 

2  Leben  Calvins,  iii.,  351.  3  Ep.  292,  April  22d,  1560. 


346  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ously  in  the  civil,  as  well  as  in  the  ecclesiastical,  history  of 
England,  it  will  be  proper  to  detail  the  origin  of  it  at  some 
length. 

The  flight  of  John  A'Lasco  from  the  Marian  persecution 
has  been  already  mentioned.  It  is  computed  that  on  the  same 
occasion  upward  of  800  Protestants  left  the  shores  of  England 
for  the  continent,  in  the  hope  of  finding  an  asylum  either  in 
Germany  or  Switzerland.  In  the  northern  towns  of  the  former 
country  they  were,  like  A'Lasco,  cruelly  repulsed ;  so  that 
whatever  might  have  been  the  desire  of  Cranmer,  and  the 
other  English  Reformers,  to  unite  with  the  Lutheran  church, 
the  feeling  does  not  appear  to  have  been  reciprocated.  In  the 
southern  parts  of  Germany,  however,  and  especially  in  Switz- 
erland, the  exiles  were  kindly  received,  and  allowed  to  estab- 
lish churches. 

In  these  offices  of  friendship  and  good-will  the  towns  of 
Zurich  and  Basle,  and  the  ministers  BulHnger,  Zanchy,  Wol- 
phius,  and  Gualter,  particularly  distinguished  themselves.  As 
a  means  of  subsistence,  the  exiles  in  some  places  obtained  per- 
mission to  engage  in  the  manufacture  of  English  cloth  ;  ^  but 
as  they  were  for  the  most  part  men  of  education,  some  supported 
themselves  by  keeping  school,  some  by  writing  books,  and  some 
by  correcting  the  press.  These  last  were  principally  attracted 
to  Basle,  the  printers  of  which  town  had  at  that  time  the 
reputation  of  excelling  all  others ;  and  th«  English  refugees 
are  said  to  have  been  esteemed  by  them  as  careful  and  diligent 
correctors  of  the  press.^  Here  John  Fox,  the  matyrologist, 
superintended  the  press  of  Oporinus ;  and,  at  spare  hours, 
began  in  Latin  his  ecclesiastical  history,  which  he  afterward 
published  at  home  in  English.  He  was  too  poor  to-keep  a 
servant ;  yet,  notwithstanding  the  attention  he  was  thus  com- 
pelled to  pay  to  his  domestic  afiairs,  as  well  as  his  labors  in 
the  office  of  Oporinus,  he  wrote  his  history  entirely  with  his 
own  hand.  Other  distinguished  literary  characters  among  the 
exiles  were  John  Knox,  and  his  opponent  Aylmer,  afterward 
Bishop  of  London ;  who  answered  Knox's  "  First  Blast  of 
the  Trumpet  against  the  Regiment  of  Women,"  by  his  "  Har- 
borough  for  faithful  subjects."  At  Basle  were  also  William 
Turner,  afterward  Dean  of  Wells,  and  John  Bale,  the  late 
Bishop  of  Ossory.  The  former,  a  man  of  a  facetious  turn,  was 
the  author  of  "  A  new  Book  of  Spiritual  Physic  for  divers 
Diseases  of  the  Gentry  and  Nobility  of  England,"  and  of  the 

1  Original  Letters  (Parker  Society),  Part  i.,  p.  167,  note. 
^  Strype,  Cranmer,  i.,  511. 


THE  MARIAN  EXILES.  347 

"Hunting  of  the  Romish  Fox."  Bale  has  thus  gratefully 
recorded  the  reports  which  he  had  received  of  the  entertain- 
ment which  the  English  exiles  met  with  at  Zurich  :  "  They 
lived  together,"  he  tells  us,  "in  one  house  like  a  college  of 
students.  That  Bullinger  took  a  fatherly  care  of  them,  and 
that  by  the  full  consent  of  the  citizens."  And  he  adds,  "that 
those  that  were  daily  with  him  at  Basil,  related  those  minis- 
ters' care,  their  trouble,  and  their  paternal  affection  toward 
them,  while  they  lived  under  the  shadow  of  that  city,  covered 
against  the  heat  of  persecution  with  the  love  of  the  whole 
people.  They  related  also  to  him  the  incredible  munificence 
of  the  magistrates,  who  most  liberally  offered,  by  Bullinger, 
subsistence  by  provision  of  bread,  corn,  and  wine,  as  much  as 
might  suffice  to  sustain  thirteen  or  fourteen  of  them.  But  the 
English  refusing  to  be  so  burdensome  to  them  (having  relief 
elsewhere),  they  of  the  city  were  sorry  that  some  opportunity 
of  gratifying  them  was  wanting."^  Parkhurst,  afterward 
bishop  of  Norwich,  was  among  those  who  found  shelter  at 
Zurich ;  and  having  a  turn  for  poetiy  in  his  youth,  gave 
expression  to  his  gratitude  in  some  copies  of  Latin  verses. 
Among  them  were  the  following  lines,  which  he  caused  to  be 
engraved  on  a  rock  near  Zurich,  and  which  his  fellow-exiles 
subscribed  with  their  names  : 

"  Hviic  insculpserunt  Angli  sua  nomina  saxo 

Caram  qui  patriam  deseruere  suam  : 
Deseruei'e  suam  pati'iam  pro  nomine  Christi, 

duos  fovet  ut  cives  urbs  Tigurina  suos. 
Urbs  Tigurina  piis  tiitum  se  prasbet  asylum 

O  !  dabitur  grates  quando  referre  pares  !" 

It  is  gratifying  to  think  that  the  opportunity  desired  in  the 
last  line  occurred  sooner  than  might  have  been  expected. 
After  the  return  of  the  exiles  to  England,  a  correspondence  was 
kept  up  for  a  considerable  time  between  the  chief  of  them  and 
the  Zurich  divines,  accompanied  with  a  mutual  interchange 
of  kindly  offices.^ 

This  pleasing  picture  of  Christian  charity  and  brotherly  love 
was,  however,  soon  destined  to  be  blotted  and  defaced.  The 
very  time  of  their  misfortune  and  exile  became  the  inappro- 

^  Strype,  Annals,  ii.,  Part  i.,  p.  348. 

^  Strype,  1.  c.,  p.  337,  says,  that  Gualter's  son,  Rodolpb,  was  supported 
at  Oxford  by  Parkhurst,  when  bishop  of  Norwich.  But  from  an  account- 
book  of  Whitgift's,  when  master  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  it  appears 
that,  though  several  sums  were  received  from  the  bi-^liops  of  York  and 
London  (Aylmer  and  Sandys)  for  Rodolph's  maintenaijc  r,  at  that  university, 
no  mention  is  made  of  Parkhurst. — See  Dr.  Maitland,  Essays  on  theReforma- 
tion,  p.  44,  note. 


348  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

priate  season  of  heart-burnings  and  quarrels  among  the  En- 
glish refugees.  We  have  seen,  in  the  case  "of  Dr.  Hooper, 
that  the  seeds  of  dissension  had  been  already  .sown  in  the  En- 
glish church.  There -was  a  party  that  wished  to  carry  the 
R-eformation  in  England  to  a  greater  extent  than  Cranmer 
had  done  ;  and  it  is  even  possible  that  Cranmer  himself,  seeing 
that  it  was  his  principle  to  pursue  his  reforms  by  slow  and 
almost  imperceptible  steps,  might,  had  Edward's  life  been 
spared,  have  brought  the  English  establishment  still  nearer  to 
the  model  of  the  foreign  Reformed  churches.  Be  this,  how- 
ever, as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that  no  inconsiderable  party  of 
English  Protestants  was  desirous  of  further  changes  ;  and  the 
establishment  of  new  churches  in  foreign  lands  seemed  to  them 
to  offer  a  favorable  opportunity  for  carrying  their  views  into 
effect. 

These  feelings  first  manifested  themselves  among  the  En- 
glish congregation  settled  at  Frankfort.  William  Whitting- 
ham,  afterward  Dean  of  Durham,  was  one  of  its  members ; 
a  man  of  violent  and  extreme  opinions,  as  is  manifest  not  only 
from  his  having  written  a  preface  to  Goodman's  "  wild  book" 
against  the  lawfulness  of  women's  government,  but  from  the 
whole  tenor  of  his  conduct.  Whittingham  had  been  at  Gen 
eva,  was  acquainted  with  Calvin,  and  a  great  admirer  of  his 
discipline ;  which  he  wished  to  introduce  into  th-e  English 
church  at  Frankfort.  It  must  be  observed  that  Whittingham 
himself  was,  in  all  probability,  the  author  of  the  only  account 
which  we  possess  of  the  dissensions  to  which  this  step  gave  rise, 
in  a  tract  entitled  "  A  brief  Discourse  of  the  TroublQ3  begun 
at  Frankfort  in  the  year  1554."^  This  tract  was  not  printed 
till  more  than  twenty  years  after  the  events  it  records  (viz., 
in  1575),  when  it  was  published  to  serve  a  party  purpose  ; 
and  again,  with  the  same  design,  in  1642.^  It  should,  there- 
fore, be  received  as  the  production  of  a  warm  partisan  ;  and  is, 
too,  written  in  so  obscure  and  unmethodical  a  style,  as  fre- 
quently to  make  it  difficult  to  follow  the  narrative.  Inasmuch, 
however,  as  it  contains  several  letters  from  the  parties  con- 
cerned in  these  disputes,  it  is  a  valuable  record. 

It  appears  from  the  statement  of  Whittingham,  that  he  and 
his  company  arrived  at  Frankfort  in  June,  1554.  Early  in 
July,  by  the  advice  of  Morellio,  a  minister,  and  Castalio,  an 
elder,  of  the  French  church  established  in  that  city,  applica- 

1  See  Professor  M'Crie's  reasons  for  this,  in  the  preface  to  a  recent  reprint 
of  the  tract.     Also  the  Edinburgh  Review  for  April,  1847,  No.  Ixxxv. 

2  See  Strype,  Annals,  ii.,  Part  i.,  p.  482. 


"TROUBLES  OF  FRANKFORT."  349 

tion  was  made  by  the  English  to  the  council  of  Frankfort, 
through  John  Glauburg,  one  of  its  most  distinguished  mem- 
bers, for  liberty  to  have  a  place,  or  church,  in  which  they 
might  perform  divine  service  in  their  own  tongue.  On  the 
14th  of  July  this  request  was  granted  by  the  council,  and  the 
English  were  permitted  to  use  the  church  occupied  by  the 
French  congregation,  upon  alternate  days,  and  on  Sundays,  at 
such  hours  as  might  be  agreed  upon.  Whittingham  asserts, 
however,  that  this  liberty  was  granted  on  condition  that,  in 
order  to  avoid  offense,  the  English  should  not  dissent  from  the 
French,  or  Calvinistic  congregation,  in  doctrine  or  ceremonies, 
and  that  they  should  approve  and  subscribe  their  confession 
of  faith.  But  this  part  of  his  narrative  is  not  very  clear  ;  for, 
in  the  same  page,  he  represents  the  English  as  consulting 
among  themselves  *'  what  order  of  service  they  should  use  :" 
adding,  "  for  they  were  not  so  strictly  bound,  as  was  told  them, 
by  the  magistrates,  but  if  the  one  allowed  of  the  other  it  was 
sufficient. "^  At  length  it  was  determined  to  adopt  the  En- 
glish liturgy  ;  only  by  general  consent  it  was  agreed  that  the 
congregation  should  not  respond  aloud  ;  that  the  litany  should 
be  omitted ;  and  that  the  surplice,  and  many  other  things  in 
the  church  service,  as  well  as  in  the  ministration  of  the  sacra- 
ments, which  would  seem  strange  in  a  Reformed  church, 
should  be  laid  aside. 

Such  was  the  motive  assigned ;  but  the  true  one  discovers 
itself  immediately  afterward.  "  Then  was  it  thought  good 
among  themselves,"  says  our  author,  "  that  forthwith  they 
should  advertise  their  countrymen  and  brethren  dispersed  of 
this  singular  benefit,  the  like  whereof  could  no  where  else  as 
yet  be  obtained,  and  to  persuade  them  (all  worldly  respects 
put  apart)  to  repair  thither,  that  they  might  altogether,  with 
one  mouth  and  one  heart,  both  lament  their  former  wicked- 
ness, and  also  be  thankful  to  their  merciful  Father  that  Ho 
had  given  them  such  a  church  in  a  strange  land,  wherein 
they  might  hear  God's  word  t/ruly  preached,  the  sacraments 
rightly  ministered,  and  discipline  used,  wliich  in  their  oivn 
country  could  never  he  obtained ''^^  With  this  view  the 
Frankfort  congregation  wrote  a  circular  letter,  on  the  2d  ot 
August,  to  the  English  settled  at  Strasburgh,  Zurich,  Wesel, 
Emden,  and  other  places,  inviting  them  to  come  to  Frankfort 
and  participate  in  the  blessings  which  they  had  themselves 
procured. 

That  this  letter  was  a  proselyting  one  is  evident.     Not 

*  A  Brief  Discourre.  &c.,  p.  6  (Reprint,  1846).  2  Il,id.,  p.  7. 


350  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN.  ♦ 

content  with  having  ohtained  a  niode  of  worship,  suited  to 
their  own  notions,  Whittingham  and  his  companions  wished 
to  make  this  an  opportunity  for  bringing  over  the  remainder 
of  the  Enghsh  exiles  to  Calvinistic  tenets.  This  is  sufficiently- 
manifest  from  the  following  passage  in  the  circular :  "  You 
remember  that  before  we  have  reasoned  together  in  hope  to 
obtain  a  church,  and  shall  we  now  draw  back  as  unmindful 
of  God's  providence,  which  hath  procured  us  one  free  from  all 
dregs  of  superstitious  ceremonies  V  ^  And  again,  from  another 
sentence  aimed  against  episcopacy  :  "As  touching  the  point 
of  preferment,  we  are  persuaded  thoroughly  that  it  hath  this 
meaning,  that  every  man  thought  of  himself  modestly,  hum- 
bly submitting  himself  to  all  men,  unabling  no  man ;  for  so 
much  as  you  know  that  he  which  seeketh  ambition,  glory, 
advantage,  or  such  like,  is  not  moved  with  God's  spirit,  as 
witness  the  instructions  that  Christ  our  master  gave  to  His 
disciples,  who,  laboring  of  like  disease,  were  admonished  that 
he  which  did  excel  among  them  should  abase  himself  to  his 
inferior :  which  malady  St.  Paul  perceiving  to  infect  like  a 
canker,  most  diligently  frameth  his  style,  that  he  might  not 
seem  to  prefer  himself  to  others  in  the  course  of  his  minisity."  '^ 
The  real  object,  therefore,  though  somewhat  disguised,  was 
to  innovate  in  the  worship  and  discipline  established  in  the 
English  Protestant  Church ;  for  at  all  events  the  authority 
of  the  magistrates  is  not  pleaded  as  hostile  to  that  form  in  the 
other  towns  where  English  congregations  were  settled. 

The  majority  of  the  refugees  were,  however,  very  well  con- 
tented with  King  Edward's  service-book,  as  appears  from  their 
answers  to  the  Frankfort  circular.  Those  at  Strasburgh  mis- 
took, or  pretended  to  mistake,  the  drift  of  Whittingham  and 
his  associates,  and  construed  their  letter  as  a  request  for  one 
or  two  clergymen  to  come  and  take  the  government  of  the 
Frankfort  congregation,  instead  of  as  a  general  invitation  for 
all  the  exiles  to  settle  there.  The  congregation  at  Zurich 
suspected  that  some  other  motives  were  concealed  behind  those 
put  forth  in  the  circular,  and  therefore  in  their  answer  observed : 
"  If  upon  the  receipt  hereof,  ye  shall  without  cloak  or  forged 
pretense,  but  only  to  seek  Christ,  advertise  us  by  your  letter 
that  our  being  there  is  so  needful  as  ye  have  already  signified, 
and  that  we  may  altogether  serve  and  praise  God  as  freely 
and  as  uprightly  (whereof  private  letters  received  lately  from 
Frankfort  make  us  much  to  doubt),  as  the  order  last  taken  in 
the  church  of  England  permitteth  and  prescribeth  (for  we  are 

1  A  Brief  Discourse,  Sec,  p.  9  (Reprint,  1846).  '^  Ibid.,  v.  10. 


"TROUBLES  OF  FRANKFORT."  351 

fully  determined  to  admit  and  use  no  other),  then,  about 
Easter  next,  for  afore  we  can  not,  God  prospering  us,  and  no 
just  cause  or  occasion  to  the  contrary  growing  in  the  mean 
time  whereby  our  intent  may  be  defeated,  with  one  consent 
we  agree  to  join  ourselves  unto  you,  and  most  willingly  to  do 
such  service  there  as  our  poor  condition  and  calling  doth 
permit."^ 

In  answer  to  a  second  invitation  from  Frankfort,  those  of 
Zurich  sent  a  letter  to  the  same  effect  as  the  former  one,  and 
in  order  to  come  to  a  better  understanding  on  the  matter,  dis- 
patched Richard  Chambers,  one  of  their  body,  to  confer 
with  the  congregation  at  Frankfort.  But  when  Chambers 
found  that  they  would  not  assure  him  the  full  use  of  the 
English  book,  he  departed  with  a  letter  from  Whittingham 
and  his  associates  to  that  effect.  Toward  the  end  of  Novem- 
ber we  again  find'  Chambers  at  Frankfort ;  but  this  time 
charged  with  a  letter  from  the  English  exiles  at  Strasburgh, 
and  accompanied  by  Edward  Grindal,  afterward  Bishop  of 
London.  In  this  letter  the  Strasburgh  congregation  expressed 
their  intention  of  coming  to  Frankfort  in  the  following  Feb- 
ruary, but  at  the  same  time  of  exercising  their  religion  "  ac- 
cording to  that  godly  order  set  forth  and  received  in  England," 
not  doubting  the  co-operation  of  those  at  Frankfort  "  in  re- 
ducing the  English  church  now  begun  there  to  the  former 
perfection  of 'the  last  had  in  England,  so  far  as  possibly  can 
be  attained,  lest  by  much  altering  of  the  same  we  should 
seem  to  condemn  the  chief  authors  thereof,  who,  as  they  now 
sufTer,  so  are  they  most  ready  to  confirm  that  fact  with  their 
bloods,"  &c.  Grindal,  in  an  interview  with  the  Frankfort 
congregation,  also  declared  that  the  intention  of  their  coming 
was  chiefly  to  establish  the  English  liturgy  :  "  not  that  they 
meant  (as  he  said)  to  have  it  so  strictly  observed  but  that 
such  ceremonies  and  things  which  the  country  could  not  bear 
might  well  be  omitted,  so  that  they  might  have  the  substance 
and  the  effect  thereof,"^  Hereupon  John  Knox  (who  had  ac- 
cepted an  invitation  to  come  to  Frankfort  from  Geneva)  and 
Whittingham  asked  Grindal  and  Chambers  what  they  meant 
by  "  the  substance  of  the  book  ?"  To  which  the  latter  re- 
plied that  they  had  no  commission  to  dispute  ;  and  in  turn 
inquired  what  parts  of  the  book  the  Frankfort  congregation 
would  admit  ?  To  which  it  was  answered  :  "  that  what 
they  could  prove  of  that  book  to  stand  with  God's  word,  and 
the  country  permit,  that  should  be  granted  them."     Grindal 

»  A  Brief  Discourse,  Sec,  p.  16  (Reprint,  1846).  2  Jbid.,  p.  23. 


352  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

and  Chambers  returned  to  Strasburgh  with  a  letter  to  this 
effect. 

As  in  a  subsequent  letter  those  at  Strasburgh  declined  to 
fix  any  certain  time  at  which  they  would  come  to  Frankfort, 
the  congregation  of  the  latter  place  determined  to  establish 
some  certain  order  of  service,  and  also  to  celebrate  the  com- 
munion :  and  at  last  it  was  decided  that  the  order  of  Geneva 
should  be  adopted  as  "most  godly  and  farthest  off  from  su- 
perstition."^ But  Knox,  being  applied  to,  refused  either  to  use 
that  order,  or  to  administer  the  communion,  "  till  the  learned 
men  of  Strasburgh,  Zurich,  Emden,  &c.,  were  made  privy." 
Nor  would  he  administer  the  communion  according  to  the 
English  service  book  :  alleging  that  "  there  were  things  in  it 
placed  only  by  warrant  of  man's  authority,  and  no  ground  in 
God's  word  for  the  same,  and  had  also  a  long  time  very  su- 
perstitiously  in  the  mass  been  wickedly  abused."  But  Knox 
offered  to  preach. 

In  the  mean  time  Thomas  Lever  had  arrived  from  Zurich, 
whom  the  congregation  of  Frankfort  had  elected  for  one  of 
their  ministers,  together  with  Knox  and  Haddon.  But  when 
the  Frankfort  congregation  found  that  he  would  not  use  the 
order  of  Geneva,  but  wanted  to  set  up  one  of  his  own,  they 
would  not  permit  it.  And  fearing  the  further  progress  of  this 
matter,  Whittingham  and  Knox  determined  to  arrest  it  by 
an  appeal  to  Geneva ;  for  which  purpose  they  drew  up  a  de- 
scription of  the  English  service  in  Latin,  and  sent  it  to  Calvin, 
requesting  his  judgment  on  it.  In  the  letter  to  Calvin  ac- 
companying this  document  they  declared  "  that  some  of  their 
countrymen  went  about  to  force  them  to  the  same,  and  would 
admit  no  other,  saying  that  it  was  an  order  most  absolute, 
and  that  if  ever  they  came  into  their  country  they  would  do 
their  best  to  establish  it  again  :"^  an  affirmation  hardly  de- 
cent or  candid  when  we  consider  that  the  Frankfort  congre- 
gation had  been  the  first  to  endeavor  to  force  their  own  vi.  ws 
on  the  other  churches. 

Calvin  replied  to  this  application  in  a  letter  dated  on  the 
18th  of  January,  1555.^  In  this  he  laments  the  division 
which  had  arisen  among  the  English  exiles  in  the  time  of 
their  adversity,  as  very  unseasonable.  He  says  that  he  does 
not  blame  the  constancy  of  those  who  are  drawn  into  a  dis- 

1  A  Brief  Discourse,  &c.,  p.  27  (Reprint,  1846).  ^  Ji,i^^^  p^  28. 

3  Ep.  200.  It  is  translated  in  the  Brief  Discoiirse,  p.  34,  et  seq. ;  but 
some  of  the  expressions  are  twisted  to  a  meaning  more  favorable  to  the 
Frankfort  congregation  than  the  original  warrants. 


"TROUBLES  OF  FRANKtORT."         353 

pute  against  their  wills  in  defense  of  a  just  cause  ;  but 
that  he  deservedly  condemns  that  pertinacity  which  de- 
lays and  hinders  the  holy  desire  of  forming  a  church.^  But 
though  in  things  indifferent,  as  outward  rites,  he  (Calvin)  was 
inclined  to  be  easy  and  compliant,  yet  he  did  not  think  it  ex- 
pedient to  yield  on  all  occasions  to  the  silly  moroseness  of 
those  who  will  not  depart  from  their  ancient  customs.  In 
the  English  liturgy,  such  as  it  had  been  described  to  him,  he 
perceived  that  there  were  many  bearable  absurdities :  by 
which  words  he  meant,  that  though  there  was  not  the  purity 
that  might  be  wished,  yet  that  faults  which  could  not  be  im- 
mediately corrected,  were  to  be  borne  for  a  time,  so  long  as 
they  did  not  involve  any  open  impiety.  He  thought  that 
honest,  grave,  and  learned  ministers  of  Christ  should  so  start 
from  these  beginnings  as  to  proceed  further  and  seek  some- 
thing purer,  and  more  filed  from  rust.  That  if  true  religion 
had  still  flourished  in  England,  something  should  have  been 
corrected,  and  much  laid  aside.  That  now,  when  these  be- 
ginnings were  overthrown,  when  a  church  was  to  be  established 
in  another  place,  and  when,  therefore,  it  was  free  to  choose 
anew  that  form  which  seemed  best  adapted  to  use  and  edifi- 
cation ;  he  could  not  understand  what  those  meaned  who 
were  so  much  dehghted  with  the  leavings  of  Popish  dregs. 
They  loved,  forsooth,  what  they  were  accustomed  to.  But 
this  was  trifling  and  puerile  ;  besides,  founding  a  new  institu- 
tion differed  much  from  changing  one.  Though  he  would 
not  have  them  immoderately  stifi^,  if  the  infirmity  of  some 
would  not  permit  them  to  proceed  higher  ;  yet  he  desired 
others  to  be  admonished  not  to  be  too  self-satisfied  in  their 
ignorance,  nor  to  retard  the  holy  work  by  their  pertinacity, 
nor  to  be  too  much  carried  away  by  a  foolish  rivalry.  For 
what  cause  of  ijuarrel  had  they  except  their  shame  of  yield- 
ing to  those  who  were  better  than  themselves  ?  But  he  re- 
marked, that  he  perhaps  in  vain  addressed  those  who  did  not 
recognize  his  authority  to  give  them  advice.  They  were 
much  deceived,  he  continued,  if  they  feared  any  sinister  re- 
ports in  England  as  to  their  renouncing  that  religion  for  which 
they  had  quitted  their  country.  K-ather,  a  sincere  and  in- 
genuous profession  would  compel  the  faithful  left  there  to 

1  By  translating  '■'■  j'ormandcB  ecclesia  siudium,"  by  "the  holye  careful- 
ness of  reforming'  the  church,"  the  author  of  the  tract  converts  this  ob- 
servation, which  Calvin  seems  to  have  leveled  merely  against  the  per- 
tinacity of  the  Frankfort  congregation,  which  prevented  them  from  forming 
a  church,  into  a  decided  approbation  of  the  views  of  Whittingham  and  his 
party. 


354  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN 

weigh  well  into  how  deep  an  abyss  they  were  feillen  ;  and 
that  their  downfall  would  wound  them  the  more  deeply  when 
they  perceived  those  abroad  proceeding  beyond  that  middle 
course,  from  which  they  themselves  had  been  forced  even  to 
retrograde. 

This  letter  was  dn  the  whole,  as  might  indeed  have  been 
expected,  favorable  to  the  party  of  Whittingham  and  Knox, 
though  Calvin  does  not  bestow  unqualified  approbation  on 
their  conduct.  It  brought  over  to  that  party,  however,  sev- 
eral of  those  at  Frankfort  who  were  previously  hesitating ; 
and,  after  much  debate,  it  was  decided  that  Knox,  Whitting- 
ham, Gilby,  Fox,  and  Cole,  should  draw  up  a  service-book ; 
which  they  did  after  the  fashion  of  that  of  Geneva.  This 
book,  however,  did  not  give  entire  satisfaction,  and  Knox, 
Whittingham,  Lever,  and  Parry  were  charged  to  alter  and 
modify  it ;  which  they  did  by  adopting,  among  other  changes, 
some  parts  of  the  English  service-book.  This  new  order  was 
to  be  used  till  the  end  of  the  following  April,  and  any  dis- 
putes that  might  arise  respecting  it  were  to  be  referred  to 
Calvin,  Musculus,  Martyr,  Bullinger,  and  Viret. 

Such  was  the  posture  of  affairs  when  Dr.  Richard  Cox, 
accompanied  by  some  other  persons,  arrived  at  Frankfort  from 
England  on  the  13th  of  March.  That  eminent  divine,  who 
subsequently  became  bishop  of  Ely,  had  been  King  Edward's 
tutor,  and  one  of  Cranmer's  chief  coadjutors  in  preparing  the 
liturgy  published  in  that  prince's  reign  :  and,  when  he  arrived 
at  Frankfort,  took  immediate  steps  to  restore  its  use  among 
the  congregation  settled  there.  The  author  of  the  "  Brief 
Discourse"  ^  charges  Dr.  Cox  and  his  companions  with  violent 
conduct  in  effecting  this  object ;  with  interrupting  the  order 
of  the  service  by  making  their  responses  aloud,  and  with 
thrusting  themselves  by  force  into  the  pulpit  and  reading  the 
litany.  If  such  proceedings  were  really  resorted  to  they  can 
hardly  be  justified      But — 

"  duis  tulerit  Gracchos  de  seditione  querentes  1" 

Accusations  like  these  come  with  a  bad  grace  from  men  like 
Whittingham  and  Knox,  who  were  not  slow  in  retaliating. 
On  the  very  same  day  that  these  disturbance  are  said  to  have 
occurred,  Knox  delivered  a  violent  sermon,  in  which  he  re- 
flected upon  some  of  the  opposite  party  as  plural ists.^  All 
was  now  tumult   and  confusion.     Upon   an   appeal  to  the 

'  Page  38. 

*  A  Brief  Discourse,  Sec,  p.  39.     M'Crie's  Life  of  Knox,  p.  91, 


"TliOUBLBS  OF  FRANKFORT."  355 

Councilor  Glauburg,  Whittingham's  party  seem  to  have  been 
once  more  triumphant ;  but  shortly  afterward  Dr.  Cox  and 
his  followers  discomfited  them  by  procuring  Knox's  banish- 
ment from  Frankfort.  This  they  did  by  denouncing  him  to 
the  magistrates  of  that  city  as  the  author  of  the  book  entitled 
"  An  Admonition  to  England  ;"^  in  which  he  had  dissuaded 
the  marriage  of  Queen  Mary  with  the  emperor's  son,  Philip, 
and  compared  Charles  V.  himself  to  Nero,  for  his  cruelties 
toward  the  Protestants.  All  this  was  effected  in  a  very  short 
time ;  for  Knox  left  Frankfort  on  the  26th  of  March.  On 
the  same  day  the  magistrates  of  Frankfort  intimated  to  Whit- 
tingham  their  resolution  that  King  Edward's  liturgy  should 
be  used  in  the  English  church,  and  forbade  him  to  meddle  to 
the  contrary.* 

Dr.  Cox  and  his  party  deemed  it  expedient  to  acquaint 
Calvin  with  what  had  been  done,  which  they  did  in  a  letter 
dated  on  the  5th  of  April,  1555,  couched  in  terms  of  the  great- 
est deference  and  respect.^  From  this  we  learn,  that,  though 
they  had  been  permitted  by  the  magistrates  to  retain  King 
Edward's  liturgy,  they,  nevertheless,  freely  made  many  im 
portant  concessions  in  favor  of  the  more  scrupulous  portion  of 
their  brethren,  by  giving  up  "  private  baptisms,  confirmation 
of  children,  saints'  days,  kneeling  at  the  holy  communion,  the 
linen  surplices  of  the  ministers,  crosses,  and  other  things  of 
the  like  character."  And  these  things  they  laid  aside,  not  as 
impure  and  papistical,  but  as  being  in  themselves  indifferent ; 
on  which  account  they  did  not  wish  to  retain  them  to  the 
offense  of  their  brethren. 

Calvin  answered  this  letter  on  the  12th  of  June.*  He  ex* 
pressed  his  joy  that  matters  had  been  brought  to  an  amicable 
termination  ,  but  he  would  not  allow  that  the  things  which 
had  been  abandoned  were  indifferent,  and  stigmatized  them  as 
popish  dregs.  He  gave  his  opinion  that  Knox  had  not  been 
piously  nor  fraternally  dealt  with ;  yet  he  would  not  renew 
the  remembrance  of  these  evils,  but  exhorted  them  to  make 

^  In  the  Brief  Discourse  it  is  erroneously  termed  "  An  Admonition  to 
Christians."  The  full  title  of  the  book  is,  "  An  Admonition  of  Christians 
concerning  the  present  Troubles  of  England." 

2  A  Brief  Discourse,  Sec,  p.  45. 

^  A  translation  will  be  found  in  the  Original  Letters,  second  portion,  p. 
753  (Parker  Society).  Among  the  subscribers,  besides  Cox  and  others, 
were  Becon,  Sandys,  Grindal,  and  Bale.  Whittingham  had  previously 
acquainted  Calvin  with  Knox's  banishment,  in  a  letter  dated  March  25th 
{Ibid.,  p.  764). 

*  Ep.  206.  It  is  translated  in  the  Brief  Discourse,  p.  51,  et  secj.,  but 
wrongly  dated  on  the  last  of  May.  In  the  Lausanne  edition  it  is  wrongly 
addressed  "  Cnoxo  et  gregalibus,"  for  "  Coxo,"  ^c. 


356  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN 

amends  to  those  who  had  been  wounded  by  their  conduct 
And  as  he  had  advised  those  who  were  discontented  to  depart, 
several  of  Whittingham's  party  determined  on  that  course ; 
but  before  they  went,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  congregation 
on  the  27th  of  August,  in  which  they  demanded  arbiters  to 
settle  the  points  in  dispute,  and  denied  that  their  departure 
could  with  propriety  be  termed  a  schism.  But  arbiters  were 
peremptorily  refused,  and  a  warm  debate  ensued.  Before  tlie 
end  of  September,  "the  oppressed  church"  departed  from 
Frankfort ;  Fox,  with  a  few  others,  repairing  to  Basle,  while 
Whittingham  and  the  greater  part  of  the  remainder,  went  to 
Geneva.^  Here  they  were  courteously  received  by  the  mag- 
istrates, ministers,  and  people,  and  immediately  chose  Knox 
and  Goodman  for  their  pastors.^  Such  was  the  beginning  of 
dissent,  or  "separation,"  in  the  English  church. 

On  the  20th  of  September,  Dr.  Cox  and  his  friends  wrote 
a  long  letter  in  reply  to  that  of  Calvin  just  alluded  to,  which, 
they  complain,  had  tended  to  encourage  their  opponents.  They 
make  a  spirited  remonstrance  against  Calvin's  charge  of  being 
"  unreasonably  addicted  to  their  country,"  wdiich  they  speak 
of  with  a  truly  English  feeling  of  patriotism.  They  observe 
that  he  said  he  could  easily  refute  the  reasons  which  they  had 
alleged  for  not  departing  from  the  received  form  of  worship ; 
which  they  were  not  surprised  at,  as  he  had  not  heard  these 
reasons  stated  by  themselves,  but  from  the 'mouths  of  their 
adversaries.  They  characterize  the  information  he  had  re- 
ceived, that  they  had  made  no  concessions,  as  "  a  barefaced 
and  impudent  falsehood ;"  and  it  is,  indeed,  refuted  by  a  let- 
ter of  Cole,  one  of  Whittingham's  adherents,  in  which  we 
find  it  stated,  "  that  without  further  reasoning  they  (that  is, 
the  Church  party)  permit  me  to  my  conscience  as  touching 
their  ceremonies."  ^  They  affirm  that  Calvin  had  also  been  de- 
ceived, by  being  informed  that  they  used  "  lights  and  crosses ;" 
for  that  they  never  had  any.  They  remark  that  he  "  was 
entirely  ignorant  of  almost  all  the  circumstances  of  their 
case;"  and  that  he  "was  right  in  restraining  himself,  or  he 
would  otherwise,  as  the  mountebanks  do,  fight  to  no  purpose 
against  things  which  have  no  existence."  They  reprove  him 
for  lending  his  ears  to  their  adversaries  respecting  the  mode 
in  which  they  had  elected  their  ministers  ;  his  observations  on 
which  point  were  "  a  thunderbolt,"  but  unfortunately  missed 

^  See  Whit;  ;  letter  to  Calvin,  Original  Letters  (Parker  Societ;>^ 

p.  766. 
2  A  Brief  Discoi(r..e,  &c.,  p.  59.  '  Ibid.,  \x  CO 


"TROUBLES  OF  FRAiNKFORT."  357 

their  object.  They  repel  his  insinuation  that  they  had  abused 
the  leniency  of  the  Frankfort  council ;  by  which  he  at  once 
assumed  that  they  were  lost  to  shame,  and  that  the  magis- 
trates were  stupid,  and  unworthy  of  their  office.  They  next 
proceed  to  explain  the  affair  of  Knox's  banishment ;  and  in 
this  part  it  must  be  allowed  that  Dr.  Cox  and  his  friends 
seem  rather  too  tender  of  Queen  Mary's  reputation.  But  they 
affirm  that  their  motive  for  denouncing  Knox  was  the  danger 
which  threatened  the  whole  church  of  Frankfort,  if  they  per- . 
mitted  him  to  remain  among  them  after  what  he  had  written 
against  Philip  and  his  queen  ;  and  that  they  had  first  of  all 
privately  recommended  him  to  withdraw.  They  describe  his 
book  as  having  "  added  much  oil  to  the  flame  of  persecution 
in  England ;"  and  state  that,  before  it  came  out,  not  one  of 
their  brethren  had  suffered  death.  And  they  conclude  their 
letter  as  follows  :  "  You  say  that  you  have  'diligently  admon- 
ished those  who  are  minded  to  leave  us,  that  their  departure 
should  not  rend  asunder  the  agreement  of  the  brethren.'  We 
wish  that  your  wisdom  had  foreseen  this,  and  that  the  author- 
ity of  your  letter  had  not  given  encouragement  to  the  former 
quarrel  before  you  had  heard  the  other  side  of  the  question. 
We  wish  that  your  sagacity  Ijad  anticipated  what  was  the 
tendency  of  their  designs,  namely  to  open  faction,  to  say 
nothing  more.  For  they  themselves  now  presume  to  write 
that  they  are  ready  to  maintain  the  lawfulness  of  their  seces- 
sion from  our  church.  We  certainly  hoped,  when  we  wrote 
to  you,  that  our  reconciliation  would  have  been  lasting ;  and 
your  friend  Whittingham,  with  all  the  rest  of  his  party,  ex- 
cept three  or  four,  had  given  in  his  adhesion  to  our  church. 
But  oh !  like  true  Proteuses,  they  now  make  subterfuges,  and 
shamefully  desert  us,  under  I  know  not  what  pretense.  We 
know  not  whence  this  change  of  sentiment  has  arisen ;  but 
we  leave  you  to  judge  what  opinion  must  be  entertained  of 
those  persons  who  tell  you  that  they  leave  the  church  solely 
on  account  of  ceremonies  which  even  they  themselves  dare  no 
longer  affirm  to  be  ungodly,  nor  can  prove  to  be  at  variance 
with  the  word  of  God,  or  in  any  way  unprofitable.  We  pray 
God  to  bestow  upon  them  a  better  mind ;  and  we  earnestly 
entreat  you  no  longer  to  mix  yourself  up  in  so  hateful  a  busi- 
aess,  lest  some  disparagement  should  arise  to  your  reputation, 
which  we  desire  should  at  all  times  be  most  honorable  and 
holy."^  It  is  impossible  not  to  be  struck  with  the  altered 
tone  of  this  letter  when  compared  with  the  preceding  one ; 

•  See  Onginnl  Lelter-^^  (Parker  Society),  p.  755,  et  seq. 


358  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

and  it  was,  probably,  from  this  time  that  many  members  of 
the  Anglican  church,  seeing  that  Calvin  had  condemned 
them  unheard,  and  sided  with  their  opponents  on  an  ex  parte 
statement,  began  to  feel  less  respect  than  formerly  for  his 
character. 

How  displeasing  these  attempts  of  Whittingham  and  his 
associates  were  to  those  who  had  assisted  in  bringing  the 
Reformation  in  England  to  its  completion  under  King  Ed- 
ward, appears  from  a  letter  addressed  to  Grindal,  by  Bishop 
Ridley,  a  little  before  his  martyrdom.  In  this  he  says  : 
"  Alas !  that  our  brother  Knox  could  not  bear  with  our  Book 
vX  Common  Prayer;  matters  against  which,  although  I  grant 
a  man,  as  he  is,  of  wit  and  learning,  may  find  to  make  appa- 
rent reasons ;  but  I  suppose  he  can  not  be  able  soundly  to 
disprove,  by  God's  word,  the  reason  he  maketh  against  the 
litany ;  and  the  faults  ^6?r  sanguijiem  et  sudoi'em  he  findeth  in 
the  same,  I  do  marvel  how  he  can  or  dare  avouch  them  be- 
fore the  Englismen  that  be  with  you.  As  for  private  baptism, 
it  is  not  prescribed  in  the  Book  but  where  solemn  baptism 
for  lack  of  time  and  danger  of  death  can  not  be  had.  What 
would  he  in  that  case  should  be  done  ?  Peradventure,  he 
wilJ  say,  It  is  better,  then,  to  let  them  die  without  baptism. 
Fgr  this  his  better,  what  worii  hath  he  in  Scripture  %  And 
if  he  have  none,  why  will  he  not  follow  that  that  the  sen- 
tence of  the  old  ancient  writers  doth  more  allow  ]  From 
whom  to  dissent  without  warrant  of  God's  word,  I  can  not 
think  it  any  godly  wisdom.  And  as  iox purification  of  women, 
I  ween  the  word  purification  is  changed,  and  it  is  called 
thanksgivi7ig.  Surely  M.  Knox  is  in  my  mind  a  man  of 
much  good  learning,  and  of  an  earnest  zeal.  The  Lord  grant 
him  to  use  them  to  his  glory."  ^ 

While  the  church  of  the  English  refugees  at  Frankfort  was 
thus  torn  with  intestine  dissensions,  with  which  also  the 
French  church  established  there  was  equally  distracted,  a 
common  danger  was  impending  over  both.  An  imperial 
diet  was  held  at  Augsburg  in  1555,  at  which,  in  the  absence 
of  Charles  V.,  his  brother  Ferdinand,  King  of  Hungary,  pre- 
sided. The  object  of  this  diet  was  to  terminate  the  religious 
differences  which  distracted  the  empire ;  and  an  edict  for 
that  purpose  was  published  on  the  25th  of  September  of  that 
year.  The  only  religious  denominations,  however,  recognized 
by  this  diet,  were  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Lutheran ;  and 
by  th^  second  article  of  the  edict,  all  who  were  not  com- 

1  Strype,  Life  of  Grindal,  p.  28. 


LUTHERAN  PERSECUTIONS.  359 

prised  under  one  or  the  other  of  these  confessions,  were  ex- 
pressly excluded  from  the  benefits  of  this  religious  peace.' 
This  gave  a  new  handle  to  the  Lutherans  to  persecute  the 
Calvinists  and  Sacramentaries.  The  refugees  at  Wesel  be- 
came the  objects  of  a  bitter  persecution,  and  even  went  in 
danger  of  their  lives  from  the  fury  of  the  Lutherans ;  though 
Melancthon,  whom  the  magistrates  of  Wesel  consulted,  rec- 
ommended toleration ;  since  Luther  had  required  no  more 
from  the  citizens  of  Augsburg  and  Strasburgh,  than  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  substantial  presence  of  Christ  in  the 
eucharist.^  At  Frankfort,  through  the  moderation  and  good 
sense  of  the  magistrates,  the  refugees  were  treated  with  more 
kindness  and  consideration ;  though  the  bitter  quarrels  which 
they  fell  into  among  themselves,  respecting  ceremonies  and 
points  of  faith,  rendered  them  hardly  worthy  of  this  leniency. 
These  quarrels  ran  so  high  among  the  French  congregation 
that  they  had  almost  come  to  blows  in  the  church  itself^  In 
order  to  appease  these  dissensions  among  his  countrymen, 
Calvin  wrote  to  the  council  of  Frankfort,  as  well  as  to  the 
burgomaster  Glauburg,  on  the  last  day  of  February,  1556,^ 
offering  to  go  thither  and  confer  amicably  with  their  min- 
isters. On  this  occasion,  however,  Calvin  seems  to  have 
been  actuated  by  the  desire  of  upholding  his  own  doctrines, 
as  well  as  by  that  of  establishing  peace.  In  the  previous 
year  he  had  dedicated  his  "  Harmony  of  the  first  three  Gos- 
pels" to  the  Frankfort  council,  who  had  received  it  very 
graciously,  and  acknowledged  it  by  a  letter  of  thanks,  and 
a  present  of  fifty  gold  florins.*  Soon  afterward,  however, 
Joachim  Westphal  got  his  book  against  Calvin  published  at 
Frankfort ;  and,  in  a  letter  to  the  pastors  of  that  city,  dated 
on  the  2d  of  March,  1556,®  Calvin  says  :  •*  I  had  persuaded 
myself  that  we  were  thoroughly  agreed  (viz.  on  the  subject  of 
the  sacraments),  or  that,  if  our  doctrine  was  not  precisely  the 
same,  there  was,  at  all  events,  no  such  discrepancy  as  would 
occasion  an  odious  dispute.  It  may  be  that  the  book  I  allude 
to  ( Westphal 's)  was  published  without  your  knowledge,  and 
I  certainly  do  not  think  that  you  gave  it  your  approval,  I 
do  not  mention  this  for  the  sake  of  expostulation ;  but,  since 
at  the  same  time  a  rumor  has  reached  me  that  some  of  your 
college  do  not  quite  agree  with  me  on  the  subject  of  the  sac- 
raments, I  have  thought  it  best  to  be  beforehand,  lest  my 

1  Rucbat,  vi.,  153,  et  seq.  »  Mathes,  Lehen  Melan.,  p.  344. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  160.  *  See  Ep.  223. 

«  P.  Henry,  iii.,  415.  ^  Ep.  224. 


360  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

silence  or  dissimulation  should  occasion  strife."  He  then 
repeats  his  offer  of  going  to  Frankfort,  adding  :  "  I  am  not 
so  uneasy  on  my  own  account,  as  that  you  may  not  receive 
with  sincere  affection  the  foreign  brethren  to  whom  the  Lord 
hath  given  a  resting-place  in  your  city ;  and  who,  I  hear,  are 
iearful  of  their  tranquillity  being  disturbed  by  I  know  not 
what  quarrels  and  vexations." 

The  Frankfort  ministers  returned  a  gentle  answer,  though 
they  did  not  dissemble  that  they  were  not  agreed  with  him 
as  to  the  sacraments ;  but  they  prorhised  that  the  churches 
should  not  be  molested.  Nevertheless  they  attacked,  a  little 
afterward,  the  French  refugees  on  the  subject  of  baptism, 
and  even  inveighed  against  Calvin  himself,  saying  :  "  That 
after  his  example  the  French  wished  to  impose  laws  upon 
others,  and  that  he  exercised  a  tyrannical  authority  at  Gen 
eva."^  Calvin  resented  this  accusation  in  a  letter  to  Glau 
burg,  calling  it  a  detestable  calumny,  as  his  brother  minis- 
ters would  bear  witness,  who  had  never  complained  that  he 
made  his  power  too  much  felt ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  often 
reproached  him  with  being  too  timid,  and  with  not  using 
freely  enough  that  authority  which  they  all  allowed  him."^ 

From  the  letter  just  referred  to,  Glauburg  would  seem  to 
have  dissuaded  Calvin  from  coming  to  Frankfort ;  neverthe- 
less he  went  thither  toward  the  end  of  August.  A  little  be- 
fore his  departure,  he  had  been  seized,  while  preaching,  with 
a  tertian  ague,  of  so  violent  a  description  that  he  was  forced 
to  leave  the  pulpit.  A  report  had  even  been  spread  that  he 
was  dead  :  intelligence  which  was  received  with  such  joy  by 
the  Papists  at  Noyon,  that  the  canons  celebrated  a  solemn 
thanksgiving.^  From  this  attack,  however,  though  he  was 
not  in  the  habit  of  traveling  much,  he  seems  only  to  have 
gathered  new  strength  for  his  journey.  In  order  to  spare 
Farel's  age,  whose  zeal  would  have  prompted  him  to  accom- 
pany Calvin,  the  latter  would  not  even  take  leave  of  him."* 

John  A'Lasco,  at  the  instance  of  Sigismund  Augustus,  king 
of  Poland,  had  endeavored,  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  to  effect 
an  accommodation  between  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed 
churches ;  but  this  attempt  was  frustrated  by  Brenz,  who 
required  that  the  Calvinists  should  sign  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg,  and  recognize  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  ubiquity, 
which  A'Lasco  pronounced   absurd;®    and  thus  the  breach 

'^  Ruchat,  vi.,  162.  ^  Ep.  229,  June  24th,  155G. 

3  Beza,  Vita  Calv.,  anno  1556.  *  Kirchhofer,  ii.,  149 

*  P.  Henry,  iii.,  418. 


CALVIN  VISITS  FRANKFORT.  361 

had  only  been  widened.  Calvin,  on  his  arrival,  found  that 
animosity  ran  very  high,  and  soon  perceived  that  mediation 
would  be  useless.  "  Satan  has  so  fascinated  the  parties,"  he 
says,  in  a  letter  of  Sept.  17th,  "  that  there  is  not  the  slightest 
hope  of  concord."  ^  Glauburg  was  desirous  of  arranging  mat- 
ters, but  his  efforts  were  frustrated  through  the  violence  of 
Valerandus  Pollan,  one  of  the  French  nainisters,  whom  Calvin, 
in  one  of  his  letters,  calls  "  a  devil." 

Calvin  was  so  besieged  the  short  time  that  he  remained  at 
Frankfort  that  he  could  scarcely  find  a  leisure  hour.  A  cer- 
tain Justus  Welsius  occupied  his  time  for  two  whole  days  in 
discussing  the  question  of  free  will  I  Calvin  preached  and 
baptized  in  the  church  of  the  White  Ladies,  which  had  been 
conceded  to  the  refugees  ;  but  he  visited  none  of  the  Lutheran 
ministers.  He  returned  to  Geneva  before  the  1 2th  of  October, 
as  it  appears  from  the  Registers  that  he  thanked  the  council, 
on  that  day,  for  the  herald  whom  they  had  ordered  to  escort 
him  to  Frankfort.^  This  last  circumstance  shows  plainly  in 
what  high  honor  Calvin  was  held  by  the  Genevese 

Yet,  notwithstanding  these  disputes,  the  magistrates  still 
permitted  the  French  and  English  refugees  to  have  their 
church  at  Frankfort ;  though  they  made  them  subscribe  the 
Confession  of  Auo^sbur^.     The  refuo^ees  seem  to  have  been 

DO  O 

compelled  to  this  step  through  the  rashness  of  Valerandus 
Pollan ;  but  they  entered  a  reservation  concerning  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  substantially,  as  applied  to  the  eucharist.^ 
But,  though  thus  delivered  from  the  persecution  of  the  Lu- 
therans, dissension  still  continued  to  prevail  in  the  English 
church ;  in  which,  however,  Calvin  does  not  seem  to  have 
interfered  any  further.  On  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  most 
of  the  English  exiles  returned  to  their  own  country.  Before 
their  departure,  Whittingham  and  the  chief  of  his  party,  who 
were  now  settled  at  Geneva,  again  addressed  a  circular  to  the 
different  congregations  under  pretense  of  a  reconciliation  ;  the 
real  object  of  which,  however,  evidently  was  that  their  own 
notions  respecting  ceremonies,  and  other  disputed  points,"*  might 
be  carried  out  in  the  church  which  was  now  about  to  be  re- 

1  MS.  Bern.,  apud  P.  Henry,  Ibid. 

2  R6gistres,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  417. 

3  Calvin  to  Bullinger,  August,  1557,  MS.  Tig,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  420. 

*  See  his  letter  in  the  Brief  Discourse,  p.  186,  et  seq.,  in  which  we  find 
the  following  sentence  :  "  For  what  can  the  Papist  wish  more  than  that  we 
should  dissent  one  from  another,  and,  instead  of  preaching  Jesus  Christ  and 
profitable  doctrine,  to  contend  one  against  another,  either  for  superfluous 
ceremonies,  or  other  like  trifles,  from  the  which  God  of  His  mercy  hath  de- 
livered us  1" 

Q 


362  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

established  in  England.  Thus,  with  characteristic  obstinacy, 
the  same  minority  of  the  exiled  church  which  had  been  the 
occasion  of  these  "  troubles  at  Frankfort,"  persisted  to  the  very 
last  in  endeavoring  to  thrust  their  views  upon  their  brethren. 
Several  of  those  at  Geneva,  and  among  them  Knox  and 
Whittingham,  remained,  however,  at  that  place,  in  order 
to  finish  a  translation  of  the  Bible  which  they  had  begun. 
Whittingham  and  his  companions  took  a  formal  leave  of 
Geneva  on  the  30th  of  May,  1560,  as  appears  from  the  fol- 
lowing entry  in  the  Registers,  under  that  date  :  "  William 
Whittingham,  citizen,  in  his  own  name  and  that  of  his  com- 
pany, came  to  thank  the  magistrates  lor  the  kind  treatment 
they  had  received  in  this  city,  and  to  state  that  they  are  re- 
quired to  return  to  their  own  country,  in  order  to  minister  to 
the  church  there  ;  but  that  they  entreated  their  worships  to 
regard  them  as  humble  servants  of  the  republic,  and  promised 
that  in  every  thing  and  every  place,  wherever  they  might 
have  the  means  of  doing  service  either  to  the  state  or  to  any 
inhabitants  of  this  city,  they  would  exert  themselves  to  the 
utmost  of  their  power.  They  requested,  too,  a  certificate  of 
their  life  and  conversation  during  their  residence  in  this  city, 
and  gave  in  a  register  of  those  of  their  countrymen  who  came 
to  dwell  therein,  by  way  of  a  perpetual  remembrance.  It  was 
decreed  that  they  should  have  honorable  license  to  depart, 
together  with  a  testimonial  of  the  satisfaction  we  have  had 
in  them ;  and  that  they  be  exhorted  to  pray  for  us,  and  to  act 
in  their  turn  tov/ard  foreigners  as  we  have  done  to  them;  that 
they  be  always  disposed  to  look  with  afTection  upon  this  city, 
and  that  those  who  are  now  citizens  or  subjects  be  still  regarded 
as  such  for  the  time  to  come."  ^ 

I  Original  Letters  (Parker  Society),  p.  765. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

Revival  of  the  Predestinarian  Controversy — Calvin's  Treatment  of  Castel- 
lio — Italian  Antitrinitarians  —  Gribaldo — Biandrata — Alciati — Gentile  — 
Schools  founded  at  Geneva — Dissensions  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud— Viret  and 
others  banished — Farcl's  intemperate  Zeal — Viret,  Beza,  and  others, 
repair  to  Geneva — Farel's  Marriage — Calvin's  Hiness — His  Intercourse 
with  England — Correspoiidence  with  Knox. 

During  this  period  Castellio  was  suspected  of  an  attempt 
to  renew  the  predestinarian  controversy,  by  getting  a  treatise 
on  the  subject  printed  secretly  at  Paris. ^  In  a  letter  written 
in  February,  1555,  in  which  Calvin  defends  himself  from  the 
attacks  of  a  certain  M.  de  la  Vau,  at  Basle,  he  mentions  that 
whole  quires  of  Castellio's  books,  attacking  his  doctrine  of  pre- 
destination, had  been  condemned,  and  Castellio  himself,  whom 
he  styles  a  "  fantastic  person,"  forbidden  to  publish  them,  under 
pain  of  being  beheaded.^  Hence,  apparently,  the  reason  why 
Castellio,  if  he  was  really  the  author  of  the  treatise  just  men- 
tioned—  a  charge  which  he  constantly  denied  —  had  recourse 
to  Paris  to  get  it  printed.  The  book  was  written  in  an  in- 
sidious form,  the  author  pretending  to  apply  to  Calvin  for 
some  explanations  of  his  doctrine,  in  order  that  he  might  be 
able  to  defend  it  against  the  objections  of  opponents.^  Toward 
the  conclusion,  the  author  contrasted  his  own  notions  of  the 
Supreme  Being  with  those  of  Calvin.  He  described  what  he 
called  Calvin's  false  God  as  slow  to  mercy,  but  quick  to  wrath ; 
as  having  created  a  great  portion  of  mankind  merely  for  de 

»  The  title  of  this  book  was  :  "  Traife  dto  vieil  et  die  nouvel  Homme,  Con- 
sell  a  la  France  ddsoMe,  Recueil  Latin  de  certains  Articles  et  Arguments 
pxtraits  des  Livres  de  M.  I.  Calvin''  (P.  Henry,  iii.,  89,  note). 

2  "  II  allegue  pour  ses  complices  ung  fantastique  nomme  Sebastian  Cas- 
tellio, auquel  il  en  conjoinct  deux  aultres,  qu'il  diet  estre  lecteurs  publiques 
a  Basle.  S'il  pretend  donner  credit  a  ses  challans  soubs  umbre  de  la  Ville, 
quelle  mocquerie  est  ce  de  ne  tenir  compte  de  tous  les  ministres  et  pasteurs, 
et  pareillement  des  docteurs  en  Theologie  lesquels  il  congnoist  estre  divincts 
avec  nous  ?  Mais  cependant  il  ne  diet  mot,  qa'en  la  ville  de  Basle,  des  cayers 
des  livres  de  son  Castellio,  ou  il  vouloit  impugner  nostre  doctrine  touchant 
la  predestination,  ont  este  condamnes,  avec  defense  de  les  publier,  sur  peine 
de  la  teste." — See  the  letter  in  P.  Henry,  ii.,  Beil.  12. 

3  See  the  preface,  at  the  head  of  Calvin's  answer  [Opera,  viii.,  632,  A.), 
where  the  tract  is  given  with  Calvin's  answers  seriatim.  It  consisted  of 
propositions  relating  to  predestination,  selected  from  Calvin's  work,  with 
objections  to  them  subjoined. 


364  LIFE  OF  JOHxN  CALVIN. 

struction ;  as  not  only  having  predestinated  numbers  to  per- 
dition themselves,  but  to  be  the  cause  of  the  reprobation  of 
others ;  as  having  appointed  and  willed,  from  all  eternity,  that 
they  should  sin  of  necessity,  so  that  neither  theft,  nor  adultery, 
nor  murder,  are  committed  but  by  His  will  and  impulse  :  as 
having  filled  the  heart  of  man  with  evil  thoughts,  not  only 
permitting,  but  actually  inspiring,  them ;  so  that,  when  men 
live  unrighteously,  it  is  the  act  of  God  rather  than  their  own, 
seeing  that  they  can  not  act  otherwise ;  as  having  made  Satan 
a  liar ;  so  that  it  is  not  so  much  Satan  himself  as  Calvin's 
God  who  is  the  author  of  lies,  while  he  often  speaks  quite 
differently  from  what  he  thinks.  But  the  God  whom  nature, 
reason,  and  Scripture  reveal  to  us,  is  quite  opposite  to  this. 
He  is  inclined  to  mercy,  and  slow  to  anger ;  he  created  man 
after  his  own  image,  placed  him  in  Paradise,  and  bestowed 
upon  him  eternal  life.  This  God,  who  desires  the  happiness 
of  all  mankind,  and  that  none  be  lost,  whose  righteousness 
overflows  against  the  power  of  sin,  the  light  of  whose  justice 
shines  upon  all  men,  calls  to  us,  "  Come  to  me,  ye  that  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  He  inspires  men 
with  good  and  holy  thoughts,  frees  them  from  the  n«3cessity 
of  sinning  into  which  their  disobedience  has  cast  them,  and 
heals  their  troubles,  so  as  never  to  refuse  a  blessing  to  those 
who  ask  for  it.  Now  this  God  is  come  to  destroy  the  works 
of  the  Calvinistic  God,  and  to  cast  him  out.  Gods  of  such 
different  natures  produce  sons  that  are  totally  dissimilar.  On 
the  one  part  these  are  pitiless,  proud,  wrathful,  envious,  blood- 
thirsty, calumnious,  hypocritical,  having  one  thing  in  their 
heart  and  another  on  their  tongue,  intolerant,  full  of  malice, 
seditious,  quarrelsome,  ambitious,  covetous,  loving  luxury  more 
than  God,  in  a  word,  full  of  all  the  low  and  wicked  affections 
with  which  their  father  inspires  them  :  the  other  God,  on  the 
contrary,  produces  sons  who  are  merciful,  modest,  gentle,  be- 
nevolent, charitable,  open,  hating  the  shedding  of  blood,  who 
speak  out  of  the  fullness  of  their  hearts,  patient,  good-tem- 
pered, peace-makers,  hating  strife  and  quarrels,  honorable, 
liberal,  loving  God  more  than  the  world ;  in  short,  abounding 
with  all  the  good  dispositions  with  which  their  author  fills 
them. 

"  The  objectors  to  your  doctrine,"  continued  the  author, 
"  say  that  you,  Calvin,  and  your  disciples,  bear  the  fruits  of 
your  God,  and  that  most  of  you  are  quarrelsome,  revengeful, 
xmfbrgiving,  and  filled  with  the  other  vices  which  your  God 
excites.     When  one  answers  that  this  is  not  the  fault  of  the 


PREDESTINARIAN  CONTROVERSY  REVIVED.  'iCj 

doctrine,  which  is  good,  and  produces  not  such  men ;  they 
reply,  that  it  must  have  that  efTect,  since  it  is  plain  that 
many  after  adopting  the  doctrine,  immediately  become  wick- 
ed, though  not  so  bad  before  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
through  Christ's  teaching,  men  become  better.  Moreover, 
though  you  affirm  yours  to  be  the  true  doctrine,  they  say  that 
they  can  not  believe  you.  For  since  your  God  very  often  says 
one  thing,  and  thinks  and  wills  another,  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
you  may  imitate  him,  and  deceive  men  in  like  manner.  I 
myself,"  continues  the  writer,  "  was  once  taken  with  your 
doctrine  ;  and  though  I  did  not  quite  understand  it,  I  defend- 
ed it,  because  I  so  much  esteemed  your  authority,  that  it 
seemed  to  me  forbidden  even  to  think  differently  from  you. 
But  now,  when  I  hear  the  objections  of  your  adversaries,  I 
know  not  what  to  reply."  And  he  concluded  by  requesting 
Calvin,  if  he  had  an}'^  good  arguments,  to  let  him  know  them.^ 
This  book  was  answered  by  Calvin  in  1557,  and  afterward 
by  Beza.^  Both  replies  are  distinguished  by  their  bitterness. 
Beza  entered  into  the  argument  more  in  detail  than  Calvin ; 
who  was  himself  dissatisfied  with  his  performance,  and  whose 
chief  aim  it  was  to  free  himself  from  the  reproach  of  being  a 
blasphemer.^  Calvin,  in  a  letter  on  the  subject  to  an  anony- 
mous correspondent,  justifies  the  anger  he  had  displayed  in  a 
manner  which  shows  how  deeply  he  had  been  wounded.  "  If 
I  seem  to  you  too  severe,"  he  says,  "■  believe  me  that  it  is  the 
result  of  necessity.  Meanwhile  you  do  not  consider  how  much 
your  own  facility  hurts  the  church,  which  is  such  that  the 
wicked  may  do  any  thing  with  impunity,  and  which,  con- 
founding virtue  and  vice,  makes  no  distinction  between  black 
and  white  While  that  excellent  ma;i  of  yours  tries  to  un- 
dermine the  chief  point  of  our  salvation,  he  blushes  not  to 
utter  the  most  detestable  blasphemies,  affirming  that  Calvin's 
God  is  a  liar,  a  hypocrite,  false-hearted,  the  author  of  all  wick- 
edness, the  enemy  of  all  that  is  right  and  proper,  and  worse 
than  Satan  himself  But  why  should  I  complain  that  you 
treat  me  unkindly  1  For  I  know  that  you  mean  nothing  less 
than  to  approve  of  the  foul  and  detestable  barkings  of  that 

^  See  the  tract,  "De  occulta  Dei  Providentid,"  Opera,  viii.,  645 ;  also 
P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beil.  41,  et  seq.,  where  an  analysis  of  the  book  is  given, 
with  Beza's  answers. 

2  The  title  of  Calvin's  reply  is  :  ^  Calumnias  Nehulonis  eujusdam,  miibus 
Odio  gravareconatus  est  Doctrinam  I.  Calvinide  occulta  Dei  Providentid, 
et  I.  Calvini  ad  easdem  Responsio,"  Geneva,  1557.  To  this  Calvin  prefixed 
his  former  answer  to  Castellio's  libel,  by  way  of  preface.  Beza's  answer 
( Tk.  BezcB  Vezelii  Responsio  ad  Sycopkontarum  quorundam  Calumnias, 
&c)  appeared  the  following  year.  ^  P.  Henry,  iii.,  92 


366  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

obscene  dog.  May  the  earth  swallow  me  a  thousand  times 
rather  than  that  I  should  not  obey  what  the  Spirit  of  God 
prescribes  and  dictates  to  me  by  the  mouth  of  his  prophets ; 
that  the  opprobrium,  namely,  by  which  the  majesty  of  God  is 
wounded,  should  fall  on  my  own  head  (Psalm  Ixix.).  Yet 
you,  while  I  am  defending  that  cause  which  I  can  not  desert 
without  being  a  perfidious  traitor,  charge  me  with  quarreling  I 
I  wish  so  thoughtless  a  word,  for  which  I  blush  as  being  un- 
worthy of  a  Christian,  had  never  escaped  from  you.  Surely 
if  there  is  one  drop  of  piety  in  us,  such  an  indignity  should  ex- 
cite our  highest  indignation ;  and,  for  my  bwn  part,  I  would 
in  this  case  rather  be  furious  than  unmoved  by  anger."  ^ 

Jealousy  for  God's  honor  is  highly  just  and  laudable  ;  but 
there  are  passages  in  Calvin's  work  which  betray  rather  the 
rancorous  virulence  of  personal  animosity  than  the  holy  warmth 
of  religious  zeal.  Among  other  things  he  brought  a  charge 
of  theft  against  Castellio,  without  thinking  it  worth  while  to 
ascertain  whether  there  was  any  foundation  for  it.^  Castel- 
lio's  answer  to  this  imputation  is  exceedingly  touching.  He 
pleads  guilty  to  the  charge  of  poverty,  rendered  all  the  more 
bitter  by  having  a  family  of  eight  children  to  bring  up  ;  and 
states  that  being  obliged  to  sit  up  of  nights  in  order  to  com- 
plete his  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  he  had  openly  and  in 
company  with  many  others,  repaired  to  the  banks  of  a  river 
that  flows  into  the  Rhine,  in  order  to  hook  up  some  pieces  of 
drift  wood  borne  down  by  the  stream,  wherewith  to  make  him 
a  fire  to  warm  his  chamber.  Such  was  the  action  which 
Calvin  magnified  into  a  theft !  In  allusion  to  such  charges, 
Castellio,  in  the  Defense  which  he  published  in  answer  to 
Calvin  and  Beza's  books,  reproaches  them  with  snatching  at 
all  sorts  of  reports  against  their  enemies,  and  putting  them 
into  the  first  work  they  published ;  a  practice  which  they 
would  not  fail  to  repent  of  at  last.  He  attributes  Beza's  ill- 
will  toward  him,  to  his  having  censured  a  book  published  by 
that  writer  under  the  name  of  "  Passavantius."  Calvin  had 
also  been  mean  enough  to  say  that  he  had  kept  Castellio  in 
his  house  at  Strasburgh ;  but  from  the  latter's  answer  it  ap- 
pears that  he  had  lodged  with  him  but  for  a  week,  when  ho, 

1  Ep.  393. 

^  "  I  demand  of  you  when  a  year  or  two  ago  you  had  a  hook  in  your  hand 
for  carrying  off  some  wood  to  warm  your  house,  whether  it  was  not  your 
own  will  that  drove  you  to  the  theft  ?  If  this  alone  suffices  to  your  just 
damnation,  that  you  knowingly  and  willingly  sought  a  base  and  wicked 
gain  by  the  loss  of  others,  you  are  not  at  all  absolved  by  exclaiming  against 
necessity." — De  occnltd  Dei  Providentid,  Opera,  viii.,  614,  B. 


CALVIN  AND  CASTELLIO.  367 

gave  up  his  apartment  to  the  valet  of  a  Madame  de  Verger, 
who  had  come  with  her  son  to  lodge  with  Calvin ;  and  that 
he  had  afterward  paid  him  for  his  board.  Subsequently  he 
had  lived  in  Calvin's  house  gratuitously  for  a  week,  to  attend 
upon  the  valet  when  he  was  sick.  On  the  other  hand  he 
states  that  he  had  been  serviceable  to  Calvin's  family  when 
he  was  at  Ratisbon.  The  tone  of  Castellio's  Defense  forms  a 
striking  contrast  to  that  of  Calvin's  book.  Bayle  remarks  of 
the  Appendix  to  it :  "  The  sequel  of  this  appendix  contains 
some  excellent  admonitions  ;  and  it  must  be  acknowledged 
that  Castellio,  call  him  heretic  as  long  as  you  will,  gave  bet- 
ter examples  of  moderation  in  his  writings  than  the  orthodox 
persons  who  attacked  him."^  Indeed  Calvin  had  poured  out 
such  foul  and  unchristian-like  abuse,  that  Castellio  tells  us 
he  had  heard  it  doubted  whether  he  could  have  written  it. 
Among  the  choice  epithets  showered  upon  him  were  those  of 
blasphemer,  slajiderer,  foul-onouthed  dog,  full  of  ignorance, 
bestiality,  and  impudence,  impostor,  impure  corrupter  of 
Scripture,  vagabond,  scurvy  knave,  &:c.  After  recounting 
all  these  vituperations,  Castellio  observes  :  "  Nothing  is  so 
hidden  that  will  not  be  discoveredk  Christ  will  not  always 
hang  between  thieves  :  crucified  truth  will  rise  again  at  last. 
But  you  I — ought  you  not  again  and  again  to  ponder  what 
account  you  will  be  able  to  render  to  God  for  the  many  re- 
proaches you  have  heaped  on  one  for  whom  Christ  died  ? 
Even  were  I  as  truly  all  these  things  as  I  really  am  not,  yet 
it  ill  becomes  so  learned  a  man  as  yourself,  the  teacher  of  so 
many  others,  to  degrade  so  excellent  an  intellect  by  so  foul 
and  sordid  abuse."  A  noble  reproof!  and  which  must  have 
been  infinitely  more  cutting  than  any  attempt  at  the  same 
fashion  of  retaliation. 

About  the  same  time  that  this  controversy  with  Castellio 
was  going  on,  Geneva  began  to  be  troubled  by  Antitrinitarian 
doctrines,  which  had  spread  to  a  great  extent  among  the  Ital- 
ians settled  there.  It  has  been  already  said  that  these  exiles 
had  been  very  busy  in  publishing  libels  and  attacks  upon  Cal- 
vin after  the  affair  of  Servetus,  of  whom  many  of  them  were 
disciples.  This  tendency  to  Antitrinitarianism  seemed  in 
some  degree  natural  to  the  speculative  and  subtle  nature  of 
the  Italian  mind,  and  appears  to  have  been  fostered  among 
the  small  community  settled  at  Geneva  by  their  having  a  sep- 
arate place  of  worship  assigned  to  them,  on  account  of  their 
language.  The  first  Italian  congregation  seems  to  have  been 
^  See  his  Dictionary,  art.  Castalion,  rem.  G.,  sub  fin. 


368  LIFE  OF  JOBN  CALVIN. 

formed  there  in  1542,  and  Beniardin  Occhino  was  probably 
one  of  its  three  ministers.  This  church  did  not  last  long  ; 
but  when  Galeazzo  Caraccioli,  Marquis  of  Vico,  settled  at 
Geneva  in  1551,  to  enjoy  the  free  use  of  the  religion  he  had 
adopted,  it  was  revived/ 

Of  this  congregation  Matteo  Gribaldo,  a  professor  of  juris- 
prudence at  Padua,  was  a  member ;  who  had  bought  the 
estate  of  Farges,  in  Gex,  not  far  from  Geneva,  but  in  the  ter- 
ritory of  Berne  ;  and  who  annually  spent  some  portion  of  his 
time  both  at  this  villa  and  in  Geneva.  During  the  trial  of 
Servetus,  Gribaldo  had  openly  expressed  himself  against  the 
lawfulness  of  punishing  men  for  errors  in  their  religious  sen- 
timents, though  at  that  time  he  concealed  his  real  opinion 
respecting  the  doctrine  of  that  heretic,  except  from  his  most 
intimate  friends. 

Having  incurred  the  suspicion  of  the  ecclesiastical  authori- 
ties of  his  own  country,  Gribaldo  abandoned  Padua  for  good 
in  the  spring  of  1555,  and  repaired  to  Tubingen ;  where, 
through  the  interest  of  Vergerio,  he  had  procured  from  the 
Duke  of  Wurtemberg  a  professorship  of  jurisprudence.^  Pre- 
viously, however,  to  going  .4;hither,  he  paid  a  visit  to  Geneva  ; 
and  on  this  occasion  Calvin  notified  to  him  that  he  would 
give  him  an  audience  before  his  brother  ministers,  and  three 
elders ;  or  rather,  in  plain  terms,  he  received  a  summons  to 
appear  before  the  consistory.  Upon  his  entering,  Calvin 
would  not  give  him  his  hand  ;  whereupon,  in  spite  of  Cal- 
vin's polite  explanations  that  he  could  not  do  so  till  he  knew 
that  they  were  agreed  as  to  principles  of  faith,  Gribaldo  sud- 
denly left  the  room.  Calvin  now  summoned  him  before  the 
council,  to  be  examined  as  to  his  religion ;  before  which  body 
Gribaldo  expressed  his  surprise  that  he,  who  was  welcome 
even  to  kings  and  emperors,  should  meet  with  such  a  recep- 
tion from  Calvin.  Hereupon  the  latter  remarked,  that  he 
was  accustomed  to  hear  even  the  lowest  and  most  abject  of 
the  populace,  and  that  he  had  refused  the  mark  of  respect  in 
question  to  a  jurisconsult  like  Gribaldo,  only  because  he  had 
discovered  his  perfidious  conduct ;  adding,  that  if  he  had  in- 
genuously professed  himself  a  follower  of  Servetus,  he  would 
have  heard  him  :  but  now  that  his  dissimulation  had  been 
detected,  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him.  Gribaldo 
could  not  be  brought  to  give  any  decided  explanation  of  his 
opinions.  He  let  fall  some  words,  however,  from  which  Cal- 
vin inferred  the  extent  of  his  error,  upon  which  he  was  order- 
1  Trecbsel,  ii.,  280.  =  Ruchat,  vi.,  ]98. 


GRIBALDO.  369 

ed  to  leave  the  city  ;  and  all  the  arguments  he  could  advance, 
says  Calvin,  against  the  injustice  of  such  a  step,  v^^ere  refuted/ 

Gribaldo  now  proceeded  to  Tubingen,  and  on  his  way  vis- 
ited BuUinger  at  Zurich,  by  whom  his  profession  of  faith  was 
considered  satisfactory.  His  lectures  at  Tubingen  obtained 
him  much  applause,  and  he  was  often  consulted  on  important 
aflairs  by  Duke  Christopher  of  Wurtemberg.  Calvin's  eye, 
however,  was  still  upon  him  ;  and,  in  a  letter  to  his  old  tutor, 
Melchior  Wolmar,  he  advised  him  to  be  on  his  guard  against 
Gribaldo.  Beza  also  sent  to  Vergerio  a  proof  of  his  princi- 
ples, in  his  own  handwriting ;  and  to  Bullinger  a  confession 
of  his,  to  compare  with  another  which  he  had  given  to  that 
minister.  Other  Swiss  theologians,  besides  Bullinger,  regard- 
ed Gribaldo  in  a  more  favorable  light ;  as  Musculus,  at  Berne, 
who,  in  a  letter  to  Zanchi,  in  April,  1556,  describes  him  as 
"  a  man  not  only  of  first-rate  legal  attainments,  but  also  ex- 
cellently versed  in  the  religion  of  Christ."^ 

But  at  length  so  many  reports  began  to  be  spread  respecting 
Gribaldo's  heterodoxy,  that  Vergerio,  who  had  recommended 
him  to  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg,  began  to  be  alarmed  ;  and, 
in  order  to  relieve  himself  from  what  might  become  a  dan- 
gerous position,  denounced  his  former  protege  to  the  duke,  as 
harboring  heretical  opinions  :  whereupon  Count  George  of 
Wurtemberg,  a  cousin  of  the  duke's,  wrote  to  Geneva  for 
information  respecting  Gribaldo's  conduct  there,  and  was 
answered  by  Calvin  in  the  letter  already  quoted.^ 

Gribaldo  visited  Switzerland  as  usual  this  year ;  but,  on 
his  return  from  his  estate  at  Farges,  was  wounded  at  Berne 
by  a  man  of  Gex,  with  whom  he  had  a  lawsuit,  and  was  in 
consequence  laid  up  in  that  city  for  several  weeks.  On  his 
return  to  Tubingen  the  duke  ordered  him  to  be  examined  in 
his  presence  by  the  senate  of  the  university  respecting  the 
heretical  tenets  imputed  to  him.  Gribaldo  at  first  attempt- 
ed to  equivocate  ;  but,  being  pressed  for  a  decided  declaration 
whether  he  agreed  with  the  Athanasian  creed,  and  the  edict 
of  Theodosius  respecting  the  Trinity  and  Catholic  faith,  he 
asked  for  three  weeks'  time  to  consider  of  the  matter.  This 
interval,  however,  he  made  use  of  to  escape  to  Farges,  where 
his  family  commonly  resided.  At  this  place  he  was  appre- 
hended by  the  magistrates  of  Berne,  at  the  instance  of  the 
Duke  of  Wurtemberg,  in  September,  1557.    His  papers  were 

1  Ep.  238,  and  Calvin's  letter  to  Zurkinden,  MS.  Bern  ,  apud  P.  Henry, 
iii.,  Beil.  99. 

2  Treclisel,  ii.,  287.  3  Ep.  238,  May  2d,  1557. 


370  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

seized,  which,  besides  Antitrinitarian  heresies,  contained  many 
erroneous  notions  concerning  the  person  of  Christ.  The  Ber- 
nese were  at  first  incUned  to  send  him  back  to  Tubingen, 
with  a  command  not  to  return  to  their  territories  without  a 
certificate  from  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg.  Fearful  of  the 
duke's  anger,  Gribaldo  undertook  to  do  whatever  was  required 
of  him  ;  whereupon  he  was  ordered  to  draw  up  with  his  own 
hand  a  confession,  in  which  he  renounced  his  errors  respecting 
the  Trinity,  and  acknowledged  the  truth  of  the  Nicene  and 
Athanasian  creeds.  He  was,  nevertheless,  banished  from  the 
Bernese  territories ;  but  appealing  for  mercy,  for  the  sake  of 
his  seven  children,  the  sentence  was  revoked  the  following 
year.^ 

Calvin  regarded  Gribaldo  as  the  originator  of  those  heresies 
which  shortly  afterward  manifested  themselves  in  the  Italian 
church  at  Geneva.^  .  The  next  who  made  himself  conspicuous 
by  them  was  George  Biandrata,  a  native  of  Saluzzo.  Bian- 
drata  had  been  brought  up  to  the  medical  profession,  and 
having  gone  to  Poland,  became  surgeon  to  the  queen,  and 
subsequently  to  Queen  Isabella  of  Hungary.  Afterward  he 
returned  to  Italy,  and  resided  for  some  time  at  Pavia ;  but, 
becoming  suspected  by  the  inquisition,  fled  in  1 557  to  Geneva.^ 

Biandrata  was  naturally  acute,  but  his  learning  was  of  no 
great  depth.  When  first  his  tenets  began  to  be  unsettled  by 
what  he  heard  in  the  Italian  congregation,  he  frequently 
consulted  Calvin  on  the  subject  of  his  doubts,  pretending  to 
regard  him  as  his  preceptor  :  a  disingenuous  artifice  often  re- 
sorted to  by  the  Unitarians  of  that  period.  He  flattered  Cal- 
vin by  telling  him  that  he  could  find  satisfaction  only  in  his 
writings,  and  that  those  of  the  German  theologians  distracted 
him.  After  consulting  Calvin,  he  would  pretend  to  go  away 
satisfied  with  his  answers ;  but  would  return  the  next  day  and 
ask  the  same  questions  over  again,  some  of  which  were  very 
acute  and  puzzling.  At  length  he  suggested  to  Calvin  that, 
for  the  sake  of  pacifying  the  consciences  of  many,  he  should 
reject  all  that  had  been  written  by  others.  This  monstrous 
proposition  opened  Calvin's  eyes  to  the  insidious  nature  of 
Biandrata' s  flattery,  and  he  refused  to  have  any  thing  more 
to  do  with  him.  Calvin  describes  his  conduct  in  the  follow- 
ing passage  of  a  letter  to  LIsmann:*  "Admonish  the  pious 
brethren  what  a  monster  G.  Biandrata  is,  and  what  monstrous 

'  Trechsel,  ii.,  294,  et  seq. 

=  See  his  letter  to  P.  Martyr,  May  22d,  1558,  Ep.  262. 

3  Trechsel,  ii.,  53.  *  See  Ep.  322. 


BIANDRATA—ALCIATI— GENTILE.  371 

doctrines  he  holds,  that  they  may  be  on  their  guard  against 
him  before  they  find  it  out  by  experience.  He  used  to  flatter 
me  most  disgustingly,  calling  me  his  reverend  father,  and 
professing  that  he  depended  wholly  on  my  authority :  but  I 
told  him  freely  that  I  had  always  considered  his  countenance 
the  index  of  a  bad  and  disingenuous  mind,  and  of  a  perverse 
disposition,  from  which  nothing  good  could  be  hoped.  He 
tried  to  circumvent  me  like  a  serpent,  but  God  gave  me 
strength  to  withstand  his  cunning."^ 

Another  of  these  Antitrinitarians  was  Gian  Paolo  Alciati, 
a  Piedmontese,  who  had  served  in  the  army  of  Milan. ^  In 
short,  heretical  sentiments  of  this  description  had  spread  to 
such  an  extent  among  the  Italian  congregation,  that  in  May, 
1558,  the  presbyters  of  that  church  requested  Calvin's  assist- 
ance in  extirpating  them.  Accordingly,  the  whole  congrega- 
tion being  assembled  before  Calvin  and  two  members  of  the 
council,  the  former  addressed  them,  exhorting  every  one  to 
express  without  reserve  whatever  opinions  he  might  entertain, 
and  promising  that  no  punishment  should  follow  on  so  doing. 
Upon  this  occasion  Biandrata  and  Alciati  made  an  open  con- 
fession, in  which  the  latter  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  he 
thought  the  Calvinists  worshiped  three  devils,  worse  than 
all  the  idols  of  popedom.^  As  a  remedy  for  this  evil,  Calvin 
caused  a  confession  of  faith  to  be  drawn  up  in  Italian,  in 
which  Antitrinitarian  tenets  were  renounced,  and  which  all 
the  Italian  refugees  were  compelled  to  sign. 

Biandrata  retired  to  Berne,  where  his  cause  was  espoused 
by  Zurkinden,  the  town  secretary  ;  between  whom  and  Calvin 
an  angry  correspondence  afterward  ensued.  In  1558,  Calvin 
published  his  short  tract,  entitled,  "  An  Answer  to  the  Ques- 
tions of  G.  Biandrata." 

The  leaders  of  this  party  being  thus  exposed  and  removed, 
peace  seemed  for  a  while  restored  to  the  Italian  congrega- 
tion ;  but,  unfortunately,  its  minister,  Lattantio  Bagnone, 
lacked  the  discretion  necessary  to  preserve  it,  and  denounced 
in  a  sermon  some  of  those  who  had  subscribed  the  before- 
mentioned  confession  as  Arians,  Servetians,  Georgians  {i.  e., 
followers  of  David  Joris,  or  George),  or  any  thing  worse  that 
he  could  think  of.  Stung  by  these  reflections,  one  of  the 
congregation,  named  Giovanne  Valenti  Gentile,  had  the  bold- 
ness to  declare  himself  openly.  Gentile,  a  native  of  Coscenza, 
in  Calabria,  was  a  "man  of  some  acutenes  and  learning,  and 

1  MS.  Bern.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  280,  note. 

a  Trechsel,  ii.,  310.  a  Ep.  322. 


372  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVJiN. 

had  formerly  been  a  schoolmaster.  He  had  been  attracted 
to  Geneva  by  Calvin's  reputation,  where  he  £oon  imbibed  the 
tenets  of  Gribaldo  and  Biandrata.  He  seems,  however,  to 
have  possessed  more  openness  and  candor  than  his  teachers ; 
and,  on  the  occasion  alluded  to,  affirmed  that  he  felt  it  to  be 
his  duty  not  to  conceal  those  opinions  which  God  had  revealed 
to  him.  As  the  presbytery  seemed  to  have  exhausted  its  means 
of  coercion,  the  council  of  Geneva  took  up  the  affair,  and 
Gentile  was  accused  of  perfidy  in  violating  the  confession 
he  had  subscribed ;  a  charge  which  he  could  not  deny,  but 
contented  himself  with  pleading  his  conscience.^  In  a  letter 
to  the  Marquis  Caraccioli  (19th  of  July,  1558),  Calvin  men- 
tions that  Gentile  had  been  imprisoned ;  that  he  had  spread 
his  doctrines  in  secret,  which  very  nearly  resembled  those  of 
Servetus,  adding  :  "  I  do  not  know  what  will  be  the  conse- 
quence, but  the  beginning  causes  me  much  vexation."" 

From  his  dungeon  Gentile  addressed  a  letter,  not  to  Cal- 
vin, whom  he  regarded  as  his  personal  enemy,  but  to  three 
other  ministers;  namely,  Michael  Cop,  Raimond  Chauvet, 
and  Louis  Enoch,  imploring  their  mediation  and  good  offices 
between  himself  and  Calvin.  But  Gentile  must  have  been 
ill-acquainted  with  the  nature  of  Calvin's  power  to  suppose 
that  any  of  the  Genevese  ministers  would  take  up  his  cause 
against  their  spiritual  head.  The  reply  to  his  note  was  drawn 
up  under  the  inspection  of  Calvin  himself  Its  tone  was 
sharp  and  bitter.  The  prisoner  was  irritated,  rather  than  con- 
vinced by  it ;  and  gave  in  another  paper  in  which  he  repeat- 
ed his  former  views,  and  in  which  he  also  memorialized  the 
council  against  the  arrogance  and  oppression  of  Calvin,  who, 
he  said,  instead  of  refuting  his  objections,  had  answered  only 
with  reproaches  and  evasions.  He  also  prayed  for  the  assist- 
ance of  counsel,  and  to  be  liberated  on  bail,  that  he  might  be 
able  to  prepare  his  defense  without  constraint  or  molestation.^ 
But  his  petition  was  disregarded ;  and  he  saw  that  it  was 
necessary  to  alter  his  tone.  The  qualified  recantation  which 
he  now  made  contained,  however,  an  irony  too  plain  to  be 
mistaken,  or  overlooked.  He  declared,  that  as  so  many  wise 
men  had  unanimously  condemned  his  opinions,  he  admitted 
that  it  would  be  best  to  concur  with  them,  even  if  they 
dreamed,  than  to  trust  his  own  waking  thoughts ;  ^  but  at 

1  Trechsel,  ii.,  317.    The  facts  of  Gentile's  case  are  related  in  Calvin, 
Explicatio,  &c.,  Opera,  viii.,  569,  Amst.  ed. 
3  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  284. 
3  Explicatio,  &c.,  p.  576,  B.  *  Ibid.,  p.  577,  A. 


GENTILE.  373 

the  same  time  apologized  for  what  he  had  said  of  Calvin. 
The  tenor  of  this  paper  was  not,  however,  calculated  to  sat- 
isfy either  Calvin  or  the  council ;  and  it  was  referred  to  the 
consideration  of  five  jurisconsults.  Their  opinion  was  lor 
death  by  fire.  But  though  the  council  commuted  this  sen- 
tence for  a  milder  one,  and  condemned  Gentile,  on  the  15th 
of  August,  1558,  to  be  beheaded ;  yet  nevertheless  the  law- 
yers became  alarmed  at  the  severity  of  the  judgment  which 
they  had  pronounced,  and  which  they  had  not  anticipated 
would  be  capitally  enforced.  They  accordingly  begged  a  res- 
pite for  Gentile,  in  order  that  it  might  be  ascertained  how 
far  he  had  really  changed  his  opinions  ;  for  though  the  irony 
of  his  retractation  seemed  to  be  very  plain,  it  was,  after  all, 
nothing  but  an  inference.^  Gentile  was  now  made  aware  of 
the  danger  of  his  position,  and  signed  an  unconditional  re- 
cantation. Calvin  and  the  ministers  doubted  its  sincerity, 
but  left  the  case  in  the  hands  of  the  civil  magistrate.  The 
council  found  him  guilty  of  perjury  in  having  violated  the 
confession  which  he  had  signed,  and  of  being  a  declared 
enemy  to  the  church,  and  condemned  him  to  make  the 
amende  honorable :  that  is,  to  be  stripped  to  his  shirt,  and 
bare-headed  and  bare-footed,  with  a  lighted  torch  in  his  hand, 
to  beg  pardon  on  his  knees ;  to  be  led  in  that  state  through 
the  principal  thoroughfares,  and  with  his  own  hand  to  buni 
what  he  had  written.^  This  sentence  was  carried  into  execu- 
tion on  the  2d  of  September.  Gentile  was  also  forbidden  to 
leave  Geneva,  and  was  required  to  give  his  parole  not  to  do 
so ;  but  no  sooner  was  he  free  than  he  betook  himself  to  his 
friend  Gribaldo  at  Farges,  where  he  also  found  Alciati  and 
Biandrata.  ^ 

We  shall  here  shortly  pursue  the  remainder  of  Gentile's 
history,  though  the  catastrophe  of  it  scarcely  belongs  to  this 
subject,  as  it  occurred  after  Calvin's  death.  From  Farges, 
Gentile  went  to  Lyons,  in  the  hope  of  finding  employment, 
that  city  being  then  one  of  the  principal  book  marts  of  Europe. 
Many  Italian  merchants  resided  there,  particularly  Luccese ; 
from  one  of  whom  Gentile  borrowed  the  works  of  the  Fathers, 
and  applied  himself  diligently  to  the  study  of  them.  The 
more  ancient  ones,  as  Ignatius,  Justin,  and  Tertullian,  seemed 
to  him  to  confirm  his  views  respecting  the  Trinity ;  but  not 

1  Spon,  ii.,  80,  note  g.     Trechsel,  ii.,  327, 

»  His  sentence  will  be  found  at  Ml  length  in  P.  Henry,  iii,,  288,  note. 
3  Trechsel,  ii.,  330,  from  whom  the  following  account  of  Gentile  is  princi- 
pally taken. 


374  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

finding  them  supported  by  the  later  Fathers,  as  Augustm, 
Jerome,  and  Chrysostom,  he  began,  with  a  vain  self-confidence, 
to  question  their  orthodoxy.  The  fruit  of  his  studies  appeared 
in  a  work  called  ''  Antidota  f'  in  which,  taking  the  chapter 
on  the  Trinity  in  Calvin's  "  Institutes"  as  a  text-book,  he 
sought  to  defend  himself  from  the  attacks  and  refutations  of 
the  Genevese  ministers. 

His  health  obliging  him  to  seek  a  milder  climate,  Gentile 
repaired  to  Grenoble,  where  for  some  time  he  supported  him- 
self as  a  professor  of  jurisprudence,  but  becoming  suspected 
by  the  inquisition,  he  found  it  prudent  to  return  to  Farges ; 
though  he  had  contrived  to  evade  the  immediate  censures  of 
that  tribunal  by  pretending  that  his  only  aim  was 'to  oppose 
Calvin  and  the  Reformed  Church.  At  Farges  he  was  appre- 
hended, and  imprisoned  by  the  bailiff  of.Gex;  but  was  dis- 
missed on  bail,  having  previously,  at  the  instance  of  the  clergy 
of  that  district,  been  required  to  give  in  a  confession  of  faith. 
He  now  betook  himself  once  more  to  Lyons,  and  shortly  after- 
ward his  confession  appeared  in  print.  A  preface  was  added, 
purporting  to  be  from  the  printer,  and  addressed  to  the  sons 
of  the  church,  as  well  as  two  appendices ;  one  consisting  of 
forty  theological  protheses,  and  the  other  of  the  same  number 
of  "pious  and  learned  remarks  on  the  Athanasian  creed. "^ 
The  confession  was  dedicated  to  Wurstenberger,  the  bailiff  of 
Gex,  and  professed  to  have  been  drawn  up  at  his  command, 
with  the  intention  of  making  it  appear  to  have  been  published 
with  Wurstenberger' s  approval.^  The  work  purported  to  be 
printed  at  Antwerp,  though  really  printed  at  Lyons ;  but 
Gentile  declared  that  he  had  not  sanctioned  its  publication. 
He  affirmed  that  he  had  communicated  it  to  his  friend  Alciati, 
who  had  taken  copies  of  it,  one  of  which  must  have  gotten 
into  the  hands  of  a  printer,  who  published  it  with  a  preface  : 
and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  this  was  really  the  case.' 

It  was  in  1561  that  the  book  appeared;  and  Calvin  imme- 
diately answered  it.  His  reply  consisted  of  two  tracts  :  one 
containing  an  account  of  Gentile's  case,  and  the  other  a  short 
refutation  of  his  principles.  In  this  latter,  Calvin's  aim  seems 
rather  to  have  been  a  reductio  ad  absicrdum  than  a  serious 
defense  of  the  doctrines  attacked. 

The  reports  circulated  about  Gentile  rendered  him  an  object 
of  suspicion  to  the  inquisition  of  Lyons,  as  he  had  previously 

^  For  these  latter,  see  Trechsel,  ii.,  Bail.  16.  The  former  will  be  found 
subjoined  to  Calvin's  tract. 

2  Ibid.,  ii.,  358.  ^  Trechsel,  ii.,  336,  note  2. 


GENTILE.  375 

been  to  that  of  Grenoble ;  but  he  again  contrived  to  make  it 
appear  that  his  attacks  were  directed  against  Calvin,  and  not 
against  the  Trinity ;  and  after  an  imprisonment  of  fifty  days 
he  was  dismissed.  Still  he  felt  his  position  insecure  ;  and  at 
the  invitation  of  Biandrata,  who  had  been  living  for  some 
years  in  Poland  without  molestation,  he  repaired  thither  in 
the  summer  of  1563,  accompanied  by  Alciati. 

A  spirit  of  toleration  had  prevailed  in  Poland  from  the  very 
beginning  of  the  Reformation.  Punishment  for  heresy  was 
abandoned,  though  persecution  still  continued  among  the  Ro- 
man Catholics.  Prince  Radzivill  was  the  great  protector  of 
the  Reformation  in  that  country ;  to  whom  Calvin,  after  his 
controversy  with  Westphal,  transferred  the  dedication  of  his 
"Commentary  on  the  Acts,"  which  had  been  previously  in- 
scribed to  Christian,  King  of  Denmark.'  Several  letters 
addressed  to  the  King  of  Poland,  and  to  some  of  the  Polish 
nobility,  show  the  interest  which  Calvin  took  in  the  religious 
affairs  of  that  country.^  The  tolerant  spirit  of  its  government 
rendered  it,  however,  a  convenient  refuge  for  heretics  of  all 
kinds,  and  more  particularly  for  the  Antitrinitarians.  Lselius 
Socinus,  whom  Calvin  had  at  first  recommended  to  Prince 
Radzivill  with  the  greatest  warmth,  insidiously  attempted  to 
undermine  his  faith  in  the  orthodox  doctrine.  The  works  of 
Servetus  were  much  read  in  Poland ;  but  Peter  Genesius  was 
the  first  who  brought  Antitrinitarian  tenets  into  a  system  there. 
In  1556  he  openly  avowed  them;  and  their  progress  was  so 
rapid  as  to  threaten  the  very  existence  of  the  Reformed  Church 
in  that  country.^  Before  his  death  Calvin  began  to  suspect 
the  whole  nation ;  and  one  of  his  latest  works  was  his  "Ad- 
monition to  the  Polish  Brethren." 

Shortly  after  Calvin's  death,  however,  religious  affairs  took 
a  different  turn  in  that  kingdom.  In  the  year  1566,  an  edict 
appeared  against  all  Antitrinitarians  and  Anabaptists,  and 
Gentile  was  obhged  to  fly.  After  visiting  Moravia  and  Aus- 
tria, he  returned  in  the  June  of  that  year  to  Gex ;  but  his 
friend  Gribaldo  was  no  longer  alive  to  receive  him.  He  had 
been  one  of  the  victims  of  the  plague,  which  visited  Switzer- 
land in  1564,  and  which,  in  that  and  the  following  year, 
carried  off  38,000  persons.  Wurstenberger  was  still  bailiif 
of  Gex  ;  and,  with  an  infatuation  scarcely  credible,  Gentile 
sent  him  a  paper  containing  the  programme  and  theses  of  a 
theological  disputation,  which  he  was  desirous  of  holding  by 

I  P.  Henry,  iii.,  422.  =  gge  Ep.  190,  218,  220,  222. 

3  P.  Henry,  iii.,  441. 


376  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

his  authority.  The  theses  were  three  in  number,  on  Gentile's 
favorite  doctrines.  They  were  accompanied  with  a  challenge 
to  all  the  theologians  of  France  and  Savoy  to  appear  within 
a  week  at  Gex,  and  defend  Calvin's  propositions  against  him 
♦  on  scriptural  grounds :  the  penalty  of  death  to  await  the  van- 
quished party.  ^  A  singular  proof  either  of  his  self  sufficiency, 
or  of  his  fanaticism ;  unless,  indeed,  the  shortness  of  the  notice, 
and  the  dreadful  penalty  attached  to  defeat,  do  not  rather  be- 
stow on  the  whole  proceeding  the  air  of  a  mere  bravado. 

Instead  of  complying  with  Gentile's  request,  Wurstenberger 
caused  him  to  be  apprehended,  and  referred  his  case  to  the 
Bernese  government.  On  being  pressed  by  the  bailiff.  Gentile 
acknowledged  that  it  was  without  his  sanction  that  he  had 
dedicated  his  "Confession"  to  him;  but  he,  at  the  same  time, 
maintained  that  it  had  been  printed  without  his  own  consent 
or  knowledge. 

After  an  imprisonment  of  five  weeks,  Gentile  was  conduct- 
ed to  Berne,  where  he  arrived  on  the  19th  of  July,  1566.  The 
hatred  entertained  by  the  Bernese  toward  Geneva,  which  might 
have  been  favorable  to  his  cause,  was  counteracted  by  the  re- 
appearance of  the  Anabaptists  in  considerable  numbers  ;  with 
the  errors  of  which  fanatical  and  pestilent  sect,  Gentile  him- 
self was  thought  to  be  infected.  Beza  strenuously  exerted 
himself  to  procure  his  condemnation,  and  with  that  view  sent 
several  papers  and  documents  from  Geneva,  and  even  visited 
Berne  in  person  ;  where  he  busied  himself  with  informing  the 
ministers  of  the  disturbances  raised  by  Gentile  and  his  friends 
in  Poland,  of  which  they  had  previously  been  ignorant." 

The  trial  of  Gentile  commenced  on  the  5th  of  August. 
His  different  books  and  papers  were  produced  against  him, 
namely,  his  ''Antidota,''  a  Latin  poem  on  the  doctrine  of  the 
church  respecting  the  Trinity,  an  Italian  and  Latin  tract  on 
Christ's  humanity,  and  a  copy  of  his  printed  Confession,  ad- 
dressed to  the  bailiff  of  Gex.  He  was  charged,  besides  his 
heresies,  with  the  many  deceits  and  evasions  to  which  he  had 
resorted ;  and  as  he  would  not  retract,  but  adhered  firmly  to 
his  opinions,  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced  upon  him,  and 
he  was  beheaded  on  the  10th  of  September.^ 

^  Trechsel,  ii.,  358.  2  Ibid.,  ii.,  362,  369.     Spon,  ii.,  85,  et  seq. 

3  Such  is  the  account  of  this  affair  given  by  Trechsel  and  Dr.  Henry 
(iii.,  290).  But  Minus  Celsus,  a  contemporary,  tells  us  that  Gentile  was 
not  executed  for  heresy,  but  for  retiirning  to  Berne,  after  having  been 
banished  on  pain  of  death  if  he  came  back.  See  his  Disputatio,  p.  224, 
Christlingse,  1577.  Another  of  these  Italian  Antitrinitarians  was  Francis 
Stancarus,  a  native  of  Mantua,  who  also  found  refuge  in  Poland.    Calvin's 


SCHOOLS  FOUNDED  AT  GENEVA.  377 

But  to  return  from  this  digression  to  the  affairs  of  Calvin 
and  Geneva.  Since  1556,  Calvin  had  been  occupied  with  the 
design  of  founding  a  gymnasium  or  school  at  Geneva,  and  a 
college  of  theology ;  but  the  state  was  poor,  and  its  quarrels 
with  Berne  diverted  attention  from  home  affairs.  After  the 
renewal  of  the  Bernese  alliance,  however,  the  conjuncture 
seemed  more  favorable  for  carrying  out  Calvin's  views  ;  more 
especially  as  Bonnivard,  the  former  prior  of  St.  Victor,  had 
left  his  whole  estate  toward  the  establishing  of  these  founda- 
tions. The  school,  which,  properly  speaking,  was  only  an  en- 
largement of  the  former  one,  was  accordingly  founded  in  1558, 
and  consisted  of  seven  classes.^  The  college  was  estabHshed 
in  the  following  year.  These  institutions  were  under  the  im- 
mediate direction  of  the  clergy,  who  chose  the  rector,  as  well 
as  the  professors  and  masters,  subject,  however,  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  council.  Calvin  drew  up  a  body  of  laws  for 
the  government  of  these  institutions,  and  likewise  set  forth 
the  articles  of  faith,  which  all  the  students  were  obliged  to 
subscribe  on  their  matriculation.  The  scholars  were  obliged 
to  attend  divine  worship  once  every  day,  and  thrice  on  Sun- 
days. An  hour  was  devoted  to  psalm-singing.  In  summer 
the  classes  began  at  six  in  the  morning ;  in  winter  at  seven. 
The  schools  were  solemnly  opened  in  St.  Peter's  church,  on 
the  5th  of  June,  1559,  in  the  presence  of  the  magistrates, 
the  principal  inhabitants,  and  six  hundred  scholars.  On  this 
occasion  Calvin  made  a  speech  in  French  on  the  utility  of 
these  institutions ;  Reset,  the  town  secretary,  read  the  laws 
and  declared  the  rector ;  and  after  Beza,  who  was  the  person 
appointed  to  this  last  office,  had  delivered  a  Latin  oration, 
the  ceremony  concluded  with  a  prayer  by  Calvin.  On  the 
following  day  the  classes  were  opened.  Much  time  was 
devoted  to  the  study  of  ancient  languages  and  literature. 
The  authors  read  were  Virgil,  Cicero,  Ovid's  Elegies,  Csesar, 
Isocrates,  Livy,  Xenophon,  Polybius,  Homer,  Demosthenes, 
Horace,  &;c.  A  library  was  founded,  to  which  Bonnivard 
bequeathed  all  his  books,  and  to  which  Robert  Stephens  pre- 
sented a  copy  of  all  the  works  that  issued  from  his  press. 
Yet  so  late  as  1699,  this  library  contained  but  3000  volumes.'' 
Calvin's  auditors  are  said  to  have  amounted  to  a  thousand 
daily ;  and  this  school  undoubtedly  contributed  to  spread  his 

short  ti'act,  entitled,  Responsum  ad  Fratres  Polonos,  is  directed  against  his 
errors  (June,  1560) ;  and  also  the  Responsum  Genevensis  Ecclesice  contra 
Stancanim,  Ep.  352. 
»  Ruchat,  vi.,  238.  »  P.  Henry,  iii.,  386. 


378  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

doctrines  in  Germany,  Holland,  France,  and  England.  He 
endeavored,  as  appears  from  his  correspondence,  to  draw  to  if 
moil  the  most  renowned  for  their  genius  and  learning ;  but 
he  was  not  a  little  assisted  in  these  endeavors  to  provide  his 
school  with  suitable  professors,  by  an  occurrence  which  took 
place  in  the  territories  of  Berne,  just  previous  to  the  founda- 
tion of  it,  and  to  which  we  must  now  advert. 

It  has  been  already  related  that  Calvin's  doctrine  of  pre- 
destination had  excited  great  difference  of  opinion,  and  bitter 
dissensions,  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud ;  some  declaring  for  Calvin, 
and  others  for  the  more  moderate  views  of  Melancthon  and 
BuUinger.  This  doctrine  became  the  theme  of  almost  every 
sermon.  The  ministers  attacked  one  another  from  the  pul- 
pits, each  side  consigning  its  opponents  to  everlasting  perdi- 
tion ;  nay,  it  even  formed  the  common  topic  of  conversation 
and  dispute  in  barbers'  shops  and  taverns.^  In  spite  of  the 
"  prohibitions  of  the  Bernese  government,  and  of  the  alhance 
/  renewed  between  that  city  and  Geneva,  these  heart-burnings 
and  quarrels  still  continued.  Many,  and  indeed  the  most  dis- 
tinguished, of  the  ministers  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud  were  thor- 
ough Calvinists.  These  men  repeatedly  complained  to  the 
government  of  Berne  of  the  prohibition  to  preach  on  the  sub- 
ject of  predestination ;  and  also  pressed  eagerly  and  unceas- 
ingly for  the  introduction  of  excommunication,  and  of  the 
Genevese  discipline,  to  which  the  Bernese  manifested  a  de- 
cided repugnance.  At  length  the  storm  broke  out  in  the 
classis  of  Thonon.  In  the  spring  of  1.557,  four  ministers  of 
that  class  who  persisted  in  preaching  the  unmitigated  doctrine 
of  absolute  decrees,  thus  setting  the  edicts  of  Berne  at  defi- 
ance, were  deposed  from  the  ministry.  Upon  this  they  pro- 
ceeded to  Berne  to  make  their  submissions,  and  ask  forgive- 
ness ;  but,  though  the  class  of  Lausanne  warmly  seconded 
their  request,  the  Bernese  council  refused  to  revoke  their 
sentence.  The  four  ministers  then  retired  to  Geneva,  where, 
after  some  discussion,  the  council  consented  to  give  them  an 
asylum.^ 

Viret,  however,  and  the  other  ministers  of  Lausanne,  were 
not  damped  by  this  example,  nor  by  the  threats  of  the  Ber- 
nese government.  On  the  13th  of  March,  accompanied  by 
his  two  colleagues,  he  appeared  before  the  Lausanne  council 
of  Sixty,  to  request  them  to  come  to  a  resolution  on  some 
articles  which  he  had  before  proposed  to  the  little  council,  for 

'  See  Haller,  Diary,  Mus.  Helv.,  ii.,  117. 
^  Euchafc,  vi„  256. 


DISSENSIONS  IN  THE  PAYS  DE  VAUD.  379 

the  establishment  of  church  discipline  ;  but  the  Sixty  having 
signified  their  determination  to  adhere  to  the  edicts  of  Berne, 
Viret,  piqued  at  his  ill-success,  threatened  that  he  would  not 
administer  the  communion  at  the  approaching  festival  of 
Easter.  Hereupon  some  deputies  of  Berne,  who  were  at 
Lausanne  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  appeals,  begged  the 
council  of  Sixty  to  use  their  best  offices  with  Viret  to  induce 
him  to  alter  his  determination ;  for  that  minister  was  still 
miuch  respected  at  Berne,  and  they  did  not  wish  to  see  the 
matter  carried  to  a  disagreeable  extremity. 

Viret  yielded  to  the  representations  of  the  council,  especially 
as  they  contained  some  promises  of  amendment,  and  held  out 
some  hopes  that  fresh  powers  would  be  given  to  the  consistory. 
And,  indeed,  in  order  to  conciliate  the  Lausanne  ministers, 
the  council  of  Berne  published  an  edict  on  the  27th  of  May, 
by  which  they  commanded  their  bailiffs  :  1st,  To  establish 
consistories  in  every  parish,  to  watch  over  scandalous  sinners ; 
whereas  before,  consistories  had  existed  only  in  the  towns.  2d, 
To  appoint  guards,  or  spie«,  to  report  disorders  to  the  consist- 
ories ;  which  latter  were  to  exhort  and  censure  offenders,  and 
in  case  of  contumacy,  to  hand  them  over  to  the  bailiffs  for 
punishment,  according  to  the  exigency  of  the  cases,  and  the 
laws  provided.  3d,  To  furnish  all  the  consistories  with  copies 
of  these  laws.  4th,  To  see  that  they  were  rigorously  observed, 
and  to  spare  nobody.  At  the  same  time  the  Bernese  govern- 
ment wrote  to  the  ministers  of  the  classis  of  Lausanne,  to 
inform  them  of  what  they  had  done  for  the  amendment  of 
discipline ;  but  absolutely  refusing  to  grant  them  the  power 
of  excommunication,  or  of  privately  examining  ignorant  per- 
sons, or  those  suspected  of  heterodoxy.^ 

Viret  and  his  party  fancying  that  they  saw  in  these  con- 
cessions a  path  opened  to  the  complete  attainment  of  their 
object,  drew  up  a  plan  of  disciphne,  and  forwarded  it  to  the 
seigneurs,  or  council  of  Berne,  begging  their  approval  of  it ; 
but  at  the  same  time  adding  a  threat  that,  if  it  was  rejected, 
they  would  all  demand  their  dismissal,  and  quit  their  churches  : 
and  in  a  letter  which  they  sent  with  this  document  they  com- 
plained of  being  forbidden  to  preach  on  predestination,  and 
of  the  alienation  of  church  property.  This  was  a  violent 
step.  The  council  of  Berne  were  naturally  indignant  at  it, 
and  cited  twelve  of  the  principal  of  Viret's  party  to  appear 
at  Berne  on  the  15th  of  August,  to  hear  their  final  determin- 
ation. Among  those  cited,  besides  Viret  himself,  were  Beza, 
i  Rnchat,  vi.,  259. 


380  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

then  Greek  professor  at  Lausanne,  and  two  other  professors, 
and  two  regents  of  the  college. 

This  company  appeared  at  Berne  a  day  before  the  appointed 
time,  when  the  council  gave  them  a  mild,  and  even  polite 
answer  to  their  application,  but  amounting  in  fact  to  a  refusal. 
They  reminded  Viret  and  his  friends  that  their  conduct  was 
not  conformable  to  their  oath  and  subscription  on  their  ap- 
pointment ;  they  denied  that  their  edicts  forbade  preaching 
'J  on  the  subject  of  predestination,  but  merely  the  handling  of 
that  topic  in  an  unedifying  and  scandalous  manner ;  they 
stated  that  they  were  determined  to  abide  by  their  Reforma- 
tion, but  allowed  that  faults  might  have  been  committed  on 
both  sides,  which  each  should  endeavor  to  amend ;  they  prom- 
ised to  take  care  that  the  rules  of  the  consistory  should  be 
more  rigidly  enforced,  and  that  church  property  should  be 
employed  to  reasonable  and  Christian  uses  ;  they  said  that 
they  could  not  accept  the  project  of  reform  which  had  been 
sent  to  them,  and  that  if  the  ministers  would  abandon  it, 
they  would  treat  them  as  well  as  possible  ;  but  that  if  they 
persisted  in  their  design,  and  preferred  their  dismissal,  they 
would  not  hinder  their  departure.^  And  two  days  afterward 
they  published  an  edict  to  the  preceding  effect. 

On  the  2d  of  November  Viret  and  his  colleagues  sum- 
moned the  other  ministers  of  their  class,  and  acquainted  them 
with  the  answer  of  the  Bernese  council.  It  was  resolved  to 
write  again  to  that  government,  and  to  press  upon  it  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  proposed  discipline.  Viret  also  wrote  pri- 
vately in  his  own  name,  declaring  "  that  he  could  not  admin- 
/  j  ister  the  Lord's  Supper  in  his  church,  on  the  ensuing  festival 
-  \  of  Christmas,  on  account  of  the  vices  and  disorders  which 
prevailed,  unless  their  excellencies  established  better  order ; 
and  begged  them  not  to  treat  only  with  himself  and  his  col- 
leagues respecting  the  affair  of  excommunication,  but  to  com- 
municate with  the  churches  of  the  other  Reformed  cantons." 

In  their  answer  to  Viret's  letter  the  council  of  Berne  said, 
that  they  were  very  sorry  to  hear  of  the  disorders  that  oc- 
curred at  Lausanne ;  but  they  did  not  see  that  excommuni- 
cation would  furnish  any  remedy,  on  account  of  several  incon- 
veniences which  would  result  from  excluding  persons  from  the 
communion.  It  could  not  be  hoped  that  the  church  would 
ever  be  so  perfect  as  to  leave  nothing  to  be  wished  for  ;  but 
they  knew  of  no  better  method  of  repressing  these  disorders 
than  the  exact  observance  of  their  laws,  which  they  were 

1    Ruchat,  vi.  261. 


\^IRET  AND  OTHERS  BANISHED.  381 

very  sorry  to  see  violated  ;  and  stated,  that  if  they  knew  the 
offenders,  they  would  punish  them  according  to  their  deserts. 
They  concluded  by  exhorting  Viret  to  continue  in  the  exercise 
of  his  charge.  To  the  general  letter  of  the  class  they  replied 
more  dryly,  but  to  the  same  effect. 

Viret  and  his  party  still,  however,  persisted  in  their  plans. 
Further  communications  took  place  between  them  and  the 
government  of  Berne :  but  as  the  latter,  though  mild  and 
temperate,  remained  inflexible,  Viret  resolved  to  carry  out  his 
threat  of  not  administering  the  communion  at  Christmas  ; 
and,  under  pretense  of  instructing  the  ignorant  and  reconciling 
those  who  had  quarreled,  got  the  magistrates  of  Lausanne 
to  put  it  off  for  a  week.  The  Bernese  government  was  nat- 
urally much  offended  at  Viret's  thus  flying  in  its  face.  Let- 
ters were  despatched  to  Lausanne  forbidding  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per to  be  celebrated  on  the  1st  of  January,  the  day  to  which 
it  had  been  adjourned  ;  and  toward  the  end  of  that  month 
three  members  of  the  Bernese  council  proceeded  to  Lausanne ; 
who,  having  assembled  the  class,  announced  that  their  excel- 
lencies had  dismissed  Viret,  and  his  colleague  Valier,  for  their 
disobedience,  and  for  the  innovation  which  they  had  recently 
ventured  to  mak-e.  Hereupon  several  other  ministers  de- 
manded to  be  dismissed,  the  chief  of  whom  were  Beza, 
Augustin  Marlorat,  and  Baimond  Merlin,  the  Hebrew  pro- 
fessor.^ Several  others  who  hesitated  to  conform  to  the  edicts 
were  subsequently  dismissed,  and  some  of  the  more  violent 
banished.  Viret  and  his  colleagues  went  to  Geneva  toward 
the  end  of  1558.  On  the  same  occasion  more  than  a  thou- 
sand persons  are  said  to  have  left  Lausanne  for  that  city,  who 
were  of  opinion  that  by  the  late  proceedings  the  word  of  God, 
as  well  as  the  church  itself  had  been  proscribed  ;  but  when 
they  afterv/ard  came  to  weigh  the  matter  more  maturely, 
says  Haller,  they  repented  of  their  rash  counsel.^  Many  of 
these  fugitives  seem  subsequently  to  have  proceeded  into 
France.  The  schools  of  Lausanne  were  altogether  deserted 
by  the  professors. 

Some  of  the  ministers  of  the  class  of  Lausanne  now  found 
themselves  in  an  awkward  predicament.  They  had  been 
very  zealous  for  the  introduction  of  the  Genevese  discipline, 
yet  they  found  it  hard  to  give  up  their  situations,  and  go  into 
exile,  in  order  to  support  their  consistency ;  and  their  embar- 
rassment was  increased  by  the  variety  of  opinions  which  they 

'  Ruchat  vi.,  270. 

3  See  iiig  Diary,  Mus.  Helv.,  ii.,  125, 


^- 


382  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

heard  pronounced  upon  their  conduct.  In  this  perplexity 
they  resolved  to  consult  Calvin  and  Farel,  and  accordingly 
wrote  to  Geneva  and  to  Neufchatel.  Calvin's  answer  is  not 
extant ;  that  of  JFarel,  which  is  still  in  existence,  is  very 
characteristic  of  the  intemperate  zeal  which  distinguished 
him.  He  reproaches  his  correspondents  with  their  stupidity 
in  doubting  for  an  instant  that  excommunication  is  the  very 
essence  of  the  ministry.  To  doubt  of  it,  he  represents,  is  to 
doubt  whether  Christ  should  be  heard  in  the  church,  or 
whether  we  should  receive  what  he  has  established.  And  as 
they  had  said  that  their  perplexity  was  increased  because 
they  had  no  example  of  persons  who  had  been  in  the  same 
situation  as  themselves,  he  places  before  them  that  of  the 
other  ministers  who  had  just  been  dismissed  and  banished  ; 
and  roughly  reproaches  them  with  either  stupidity  or  coward- 
ice, in  not  marking  this  example,  or  in  hesitating  to  follow  it. 
He  cites  the  case  of  the  Levites  of  the  ten  tribes,  who,  when 
King  Jeroboam  erected  the  golden  calves,  and  bade  them 
adore  those  idols,  left  his  kingdom  and  retired  to  that  of  Judah. 
He  tells  them  that  they  should  all  leave  the  country  rather 
than  recognize  any  other  head  of  the  church  than  Jesus 
Christ,  or  receive  other  laws  of  discipline  than  this  ;  that  is 
to  say,  excommunication.  He  blames  them  for  their  incon- 
stancy in  being  now  so  undecided  and  embarrassed,  whereas, 
when  they  were  in  prison,  they  had  all  been  animated  with 
a  true  courage  to  sustain  the  privileges  of  the  Lord.  Lastly 
he  tells  them  that  the  opinion  of  the  brethren  of  Neufchatel 
was,  that  they  should  remain  in  their  churches,  provided  they 
were  permitted  to  enforce  the  discipline  in  its  full  extent ; 
that  they  should  sound  the  praises  of  the  ministers  who  had 
been  dismissed,  or  who  had  demanded  their  dismissal,  and 
not  suffer  them  to  be  treated  as  deserters  ;  but  rather  that 
they  should  proclaim  from  the  pulpit  that  they  had  been  un- 
justly expelled,  and  that  in  their  persons  a  great  wrong  had 
been  done  to  the  churches ;  and  that  they  should  denounce 
the  wolves  and  mercenaries  who  had  intruded  themselves  into 
their  places,  &c.^ 

On  this  letter  Ruchat  makes  the  following  excellent  re- 
marks :  "  I  do  not  wish,"  he  says,  *'  to  enter  thoroughly  into 
this  question,  and  to  inquire  whether  excommunication  be  of 
divine  or  human  origin ;  I  shall  content  myself  with  observing 
that  an  attentive  reader  may  have  remarked,  in  the  whole 
course  of  this  history,  that  Calvin  and  Farel,  though  zealous 

1  B-uchat,  vi.,  279. 


RUCHAT'S  REMARKS  ON  EXCOMMUNICATION.        383 

partisans  of  this  species  of  discipline,  and  thoroughly  persuaded 
of  its  divine  origin,  nevertheless  kept  up  throughout  their  lives 
an  intimate  and  brotherly  correspondence  with  the  pastors  of 
different  churches,  both  of  Germany  and  Switzerland,  in  which 
excommunication  was  not  received,  and  particularly  with  those 
of  Zurich,  and  Bullinger,  their  chief  It  may  have  been  ob- 
served that  Calvin  himself,  writinof  to  Bullinofer  in  1 553,  ac- . 
knowledged  that  there  were  many  learned  men,  persons,  too, 
of  worth  and  piety,  who  rejected  excommunication.  We  have 
seen  that,  in  1557,  Farel,  in  a  letter  to  the  same  pastor,  ex- 
pressed the  greatest  veneration  and  the  most  tender  affection 
for  the  church  and  ministers  of  Zurich,  whom  he  calls  a  very 
holy  assembly ;  yet  he  was  aware  that  excommunication  was 
not  recognized  at  that  place.  What  can  one  say  to  this  ?  It 
must  necessarily  be  admitted  either  that  they  had  two  scales, 
and  double  weights,  in  warmly  censuring  the  practice  of  Berne, 
even  to  the  comparing  of  the  laws  of  its  reformation  to  the 
golden  calves  of  Jeroboam,  while  they  said  nothing  to  the 
Zurichers,  or  rather,  indeed,  wheedled  them  (though  I  think 
I  should  wrong  these  great  men  in  passing  such  a  verdict  on 
them) ;  or  we  must  allow  that  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
weakness  in  their  conduct — and  who  is  the  man  that  does  not 
sometimes  trip? — and  that  the  dislike  they  had  conceived 
against  the  Bernese  had  the  effect  of  magnifying  objects  in 
their  imagination.  For  if  excommunication  be  an  institution 
established  by  the  word  of  Jesus  Christ,  like  the  sacraments 
of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  these  two  great  men  ought 
equally  to  have  regarded  as  heretic  all  the  churches  which 
rejected  it,  and  to  have  broken  off  all  commerce  with  them, 
as  well  with  that  of  Zurich  as  with  that  of  Berne.  For 
would  they  have  kept  up  any  correspondence  and  brotherly 
intercourse  with  churches  that  rejected,  for  example,  baptism 
or  the  Lord's  Supper  ?  I  am  quite  sure  they  would  not.  But 
if  they  thought  that  they  could  conscientiously  regard  as  broth- 
ers the  pastors  whom  I  have  mentioned,  and  even  testify  for 
them  the  greatest  attachment  and  most  sincere  veneration, 
they  should  have  concluded  that  there  is  no  such  great  harm 
in  rejecting  excommunication,  and  should  not,  consequently, 
have  spoken  in  so  disobliging  a  manner  of  the  laws  and  ref- 
ormation of  Berne,  nor  have  so  harshly  treated  as  wolves  and 
mercenaries,  the  ministers  who  submitted  to  that  code.  For, 
in  the  most  delicate  cases  of  conscience,  it  is  certain  that  the 
surest  method  should  be  followed,  that  is,  the  method  which 
the  mind  most  clearly  discerns  ;  and  in  the  case  in  question. 


884  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

it  was  doubtful  (at  least  with  many)  if  excommunication  be 
of  divine  authority ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  clear 
and  certain  that  the  government  would  not  allow  of  it.  Was 
there  any  harm,  then,  in  following  the  surest  method,  which 
was  to  obey  the  government?"  Indeed,  we  may  remark  that 
it  was  chiefly  the  French  ministers,  as  Calvin,  Farel,  Beza, 
and  their  admirers,  who  insisted  so  stoutly  on  the  right  of  ex- 
communication. The  Swiss  and  German  ministers,  men  of 
more  sedate  and  moderate  temper,  found  that  they  got  on  very 

^well  without  it.     But  to  return. 

Viret,  Beza,  and  the  rest  of  the  Lausanne  fugitives  were 
received  with  open  arms  by  Calvin.  Viret  was  admitted  to 
his  former  office  of  minister  of  Geneva;  but  remained  there 
only  about  two  years,  when  he  was  called  into  France.  Cal- 
vin not  only  made  Beza  his  colleague  in  the  ministry,  but 
also,  as  before  related,  appointed  him  to  the  rectorship  of  the 
new  academy ;  where  he  delivered  lectures  in  theology  in  al- 
ter li  ate  weeks  with  Calvin.  Anthony  Chevalier  was  appointed 
professor  of  Hebrew ;  Francis  Berauld  of  Greek  ;  and  John 
Tagaut  of  philosophy :  so  that  the  college  of  Geneva  may  be 

I  said  to  have  been,  in  a  great  measure,  founded  on  the  ruins 

I  of  that  of  Lausanne.^  The  state,  however,  was  poor,  and  the 
pay  of  the  professors  small.    After  a  while  it  became  necessary 

.  to  dismiss  them  for  want  of  funds,  and  Beza  seems  to  have 
.  undertaken  their  duties  unassisted.     Between  the  years  1580 

t  and  1590  the  school  was  supported  by  a  subscription  in  En- 
gland." 

■  Toward  the  end  of  1558  it  was  heard  with  astonishment 
that  Farel,  who  was  then  sixty-nine  years  of  age,  and  who 
had  lived  to  that  advanced  period  of  life  in  a  state  of  celibacy, 
had  married  a  young  wife,  the  daughter  of  one  Madame  Torel, 
of  Bouen,  who  had  fled  to  Neufchatel  for  the  sake  of  religion, 
where  she  became  Farel's  housekeeper.  The  girl  had  been 
brought  up  in  Farel's  house — a  circumstance  which  especially 
scandalized  those  who  disapproved  of  his  marriage.^  Farel 
communicated  his  intention  to  Calvin  ;  who,  perceiving  that 
the  business  had  proceeded  too  far  to  be  arrested,  advised  his 
friend  not  to  linger  over  it,  but  to  complete  the  betrothal  im- 
mediately, and,  till  the  marriage  was  celebrated,  to  withdraw 
a  little  while,  for  the  sake  of  decency.     During  this  interval 

1  Ruchat,  vi.,  307. 

2  p,  Henry,  iii.,  389.  There  is  a  letter  extant  from  Beza  to  Sir  Christopher 
Hatton,  dated  in  October,  1582,  in  which  he  requests  assistance.  See  Sir 
H.  Nicolas,  Life  of  Hatton,  p.  273.  3  Ruchat,  vi.,  226 


FAREL'S  MARRIAGE— CALVIN'S  ILLNESS.  385 

of  two  months,  Farel  placed  his  intended  bride  in  the  house 
of  P.  Bolot,  one  of  the  French  refugees  at  Neufchatel.  With 
a  jargon  pecuHar  to  the  elect,  Farel,  in  his  letter  to  Calvin, 
requested  him  to  consider  if  any  edification  could  be  elicited 
from  a  step  which  he  allowed  that  all  must  at  least  regard  as 
an  imprudent  one.'  The  marriage  was  solemnized  on  the  20th 
of  December.  Calvin  interceded  with  the  clergy  of  Neufchatel 
to  pardon  this  little  escapade  in  their  aged  pastor,  on  the  score 
of  thirty-six  years  of  faithful  service.  In  his  letter  to  them  he 
says  :  "I  am  in  such  perplexity  that  I  know  not  how  to  ad- 
dress you.  It  is  certain  that  our  poor  brother,  Master  William, 
has  for  once  been  so  ill-advised,  that  we  must  all  feel  con- 
founded with  shame  on  his  account.  Half  a  year  ago,  the 
poor  brother  would  have  boldly  asserted  that  he  who,  at  so 
great  an  age,  should  marry  so  young  a  girl,  should  be  shut  up 
as  a  dotard."^ 

In  October,  1558,  Calvin  was  attacked  with  an  intermittent 
fever ;  and,  though  he  got  rid  of  the  disorder  at  the  end  of 
eight  months,  yet  it  left  his  naturally  feeble  constitution,  ex- 
hausted as  it  was  by  continual  study  and  labors  of  various 
kinds,  in  so  reduced  a  state,  that  he  never  afterward  recovered 
his  former  health.^  On  the  19th  of  November,  1558,  Calvin 
writes  to  Bullinger :  "I  am  forbidden  to  leave  miy  bedroom, 
and  am  thus  compelled  to  neglect  almost  all  my  duties.  These 
troubles  are  aggravated  by  the  length  of  their  duration,  as 
there  is  very  little  hope  of  amendment  till  the  winter  shall  be 
over."''  And  in  a  letter  to  a  French  correspondent  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1559,  he  says :  "It  is  now  the  fifth  month  since  I  have 
been  laboring  under  a  quartan  ague,  which  has  hitherto  con- 
fined me  to  my  chamber,  as  my  body  was  attenuated,  and  my 
strength  debilitated.  A  relaxation  of  the  disorder  now  holds 
out  a  hope  of  recovery."^  But  though,  during  this  period, 
Calvin  was  compelled,  by  the  advice  of  his  physicians,  and 
the  remonstrances  of  his  friends,  to  abstain  from  preaching 
and  lecturing,  he  nevertheless  spent  his  days,  and  sometimes 
his  nights,  in  dictating  letters  to  his  numerous  correspondents, 
and  in  proceeding  on  the  works  in  which  he  was  engaged. 
He  was  now  preparing  the  third  edition  of  his  "  Institutes," 
the  last  published  by  himself,  which  appeared  both  in  Latin 
and  French  in  1559.  He  was  also  busy  with  another  edition 
of  his  "  Commentaries  on  Isaiah ;"  or  rather,  he  was  re- writing 

1  Rnchat,  vii.,  App.  364.  '  Ibid.,  p.  365. 

3  Beza,  Vita  Calv.,  anno  1558. 

*  MS.  Tig.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  384.  *  MS.  Bern.,  Ibid. 

R 


386  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

the  entire  work.  Yet  he  was  always  complaining  how  hard 
it  was  to  be  idle  ;  though,  says  Beza,  we  who  were  in  health 
might  have  been  thought  idle  in  comparison  of  him. 

This  new  edition  of  his  "  Commentaries  on  Isaiah,"  Calvin 
dedicated  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  had  recently  succeeded  to 
the  English  throne.  From  his  sick  bed  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
Secretary  Cecil,  dated  on  the  29th  of  January,  1559,  in  which 
he  adverts  to  the  exhortations  which  he  had  addressed  to  EHz- 
abeth,  and  admonishes  Cecil  himself  to  use  his  most  earnest 
endeavors  for  the  re-establishment  of  Protestantism,  and  for 
the  abolition  of  all  remnants  of  Popish  superstition;^  Eliza- 
beth, however,  regarded  Calvin  with  suspicion  and  ill-will, 
for  having  spoken  against  the  government  of  women  in  z 
conversation  with  Knox  at  Geneva.  In  another  letter  to 
Cecil  in  November,  1559,  Calvin  seeks  to  excuse  himself, 
and  to  avert  the  queen's  displeasure,  as  follows :  "I  certainly 
remarked  ingenuously,  that  as  the  government  of  women  was 
a  deviation  from  the  primary  and  genuine  ordpr  of  nature, 
it  was  to  be  considered,  no  less  than  slavery,  as  among  the 
punishments  inflicted  on  man's  disobedience;  but  I  added, 
that  certain  women  had  been  sometimes  so  endowed,  that 
the  singular  blessing  which  appeared  in  them  plainly  showed 
them  to  have  been  raised  up  by  heavenly  auspices  ;  either 
because  God,  by  such  examples,  wished  to  condemn  the  sloth 
and  cowardice  of  men,  or  the  better  to  show  forth  his  glory. 
I  cited  Deborah,  and  added,  that  it  was  not  in  vain  that  Goc^ 
promised,  by  the  mouth  of  Isaiah,  that  queens  should  be  the 
nurses  of  the  church.  By  which  prerogative  it  is  clear  that 
they  are  discriminated  from  private  women."  ^ 

But  with  whatever  eye  he  may  have  been  regarded  by  the 
queen,  Calvin  does  not  seem  to  have  entirely  forfeited  the 
confidence  of  the  English  clergy.  From  a  letter  of  his,  writ- 
ten in  May,  1560,^  to  Grindal,  then  Bishop  of  London,  it 
appears  that  the  latter  had  consulted  him  respecting  the 
choice  of  a  pastor  for  the  French  church  in  London  ;  and  that 
Calvin  had  sent  over  Des  Gallars  to  fill  that  office  ;  a  man 
with  whom  he  was  exceedingly  intimate,  and  who  sometimes 
served  him  in  the  capacity  of  amanuensis.^  This  choice  was 
highly  approved  of  by  the  bishop.^ 

During  the  same  period  Calvin  was  in  correspondence  with 

J  See  Ep.  275. 

'  MS.  Bern.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  411,  note.  3  Ep.  295. 

*  Beza,  1.  c.  It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  Des  Gallars  was  the 
author  of  the  "  Ecclesiastical  History"  attributed  to  Beza. 

*  P.  Henry,  iii.,  410,  note. 


/  ^  INTERCOURSE  WITH  ENGLAND,  ETC.  387 

John  Knox,  who  was  employed  in  establishing  the  Reformed 
Church  in  Scotland  on  the  Calvinistic  model,  both  as  to  doc- 
trine and  discipline.  Knox  quitted  Geneva  in  January,  1559, 
and  on  his  departu.e  was  honored  by  having  the  freedom  of 
the  city  conferred  upon  him  :  a  privilege  which  Calvin  him- 
self did  not  attain  till  the  end  of  that  year.^  We  find  a 
hasty  letter  from  Knox  to  Calvin,  dated  on  the  28th  of 
August,  1559,  in  which  he  states  that  he  is  writing  amid 
the  thunder  of  French  cannon,  and  requests  Calvin  to  answer 
the  two  following  questions  :  1.  Whether  illegitimate  chil- 
dren, and  the  offspring  of  Papists  and  excommunicated  per- 
sons, should  be  admitted  to  baptism  before  the  parents  have 
repented,  and  submitted  themselves  to  the  church,  or  the 
children  themselves  are  old  enough  to  ask  for  baptism  on 
their  own  account  ?  2,  Whether  monks  and  mass  priests 
should  be  allowed  to  receive  their  revenues,  who,  although 
they  confess  their  former  errors,  neither  are,  nor  can  be,  of 
any  service  in  the  Reformed  church  ?  Knox  himself  nega- 
tived both  these  questions ;  for  which,  he  says,  he  was 
deemed  too  severe,  not  only  by  the  Papists,  but  even  by  some 
Protestants. '^ 

Calvin's  answer  evinces  moderation  and  good  sense.  He 
is  of  opinion  that  baptism  should  not  be  refused  in  the  cases 
put,  provided  sponsors  could  be  obtained.  With  regard  to 
the  latter  question,  he  thinks  that  the  persons  alluded  to 
should  be  treated  with  mildness  and  humanity  ;  as  it  would 
be  a  hard  case  for  those  who  had  been  entangled  in  the  net 
of  error  through  ignorance,  and  had  spent  a  great  portion  of 
their  lives  in  luxury  and  idleness,  to  be  turned  adrift  without 
any  means  of  procuring  a  livelihood.^  He  seems,  indeed,  to 
have  had  some  suspicions  that  Knox's  zeal  was  too  intolerant. 
From  a  subsequent  letter  to  the  Scotch  reformer  it  would 
appear  that  he  avoided  mixing  himself  up  too  intimately 
with  Knox's  party :  and  though  he  could  not  but  rejoice  to 
see  his  own  principles  taking  rtiot  and  flourishing  in  Scot- 
land, yet  at  the  same  time  he  cautioned  Knox  against  in- 
tolerance.    "  In  the  matter  of  ceremonies,"  he  observes,  "  I 

1  "  Pluiseurs  ministres  et  professeurs  ont  demande  et  obtenu  la  Bour- 
geoisie, et  a  ce  sujet  il  a  ete  dit,  que  1'  on  prie,  M.  Calvin  de  1'  accepter 
aussi.  II  a  beaucoup  remercie  de  cet  honneur  en  disant  que  s'il  ne  I'a  pas 
demande  plutot,  c'  etoit  pour  ne  pas  donner  lieu  a,  des  soupqons  auxquels  il 
n'y  a  que  trop  de  gens  de  TporteaJ'—Rigistres,  25  Dec,  1559.  Grenus, 
Fragmens  Biographiques. 

a  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  283. 

3  See  Ep.  285,  Nov.  8th.  1559. 


388  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

trust  that  your  rigor,  though  it  must  necessarily  displease 
many,  will  yet  be  moderate.  Care,  indeed,  must  be  taken  to 
purge  the  church  from  all  the  defilements  which  flowed  from 
error  and  superstition ;  and  you  must  even  sedulously  en- 
deavor that  the  mysteries  of  God  be  not  polluted  by  absurd 
or  insipid  mixtures.  But  with  this  exception,  some  things, 
though  not  quite  to  be  approved  of,  must,  you  know,  be 
tolerated."^ 

1  Ep.  305,  April  23d,  1561. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

State  of  Religion  in  France — Persecution  of  the  Protestants— rConspiracy 
of  Amboise— Progress  of  Calvinism  in  France — Danger  and  Escape  of 
Conde — Demand  for  Genevese  Preachers — The  Triumvirate — Conference 
of  Poissy — The  dueen  favors  the  Huguenots — They  preach  in  public — 
Edict  of  January — Apostasy  of  King  Anthony — Massacre  of  Vassy — 
Beza  remonstrates — Religious  Wars — Battle  of  Dreux — Assassination 
of  Guise — Peace  of  "Orleans. 

We  must  now  return  for  a  while  to  the  rehgious  affairs  of 
France,  in  which  Calvin  had  always  taken  a  deep  interest, 
and  in  which  he  was  now  about  to  be  called  upon  to  play  a 
more  active  part. 

Although  the  severity  of  Francis  T.  toward  the  Protestants 
increased  during  the  latter  years  of  his  reign,  it  was  never- 
theless kept  in  check  by  the  influence  of  his  sister  Margaret, 
and  of  his  mistress  the  Duchess  d'Etampes.  The  accession 
of  Henry  II.,  in  1547,  threatened  the  Reformed  church  with 
fresh  and  more  vigorous  persecution.  Brutal  and  ignorant, 
Henry,  nevertheless,  like  his  predecessor,  was  governed  by  his 
mistress  Diane  de  Poitiers,  duchess  of  Valentinois,  who  was  as 
hostile  to  the  Protestants  as  the  Duchess  d'Etampes  had  been 
favorable.  It  was  in  his  reign  that  the  inquisition  was  first 
formally  established  in  France,  an  edict  for  its  erection  having 
been  brought  into  the  parliament  of  Paris  in  1558,  at  the 
same  time  that  Henry  announced  the  recovery  of  Calais.  The 
cardinals  of  Lorraine,  Bourbon,  and  Chatillon,  were  named 
grand  inquisitors,  with  power  to  arrest,  imprison,  and  put  to 
death,  persons  of  whatever  rank  suspected  of  heresy.  Chatil- 
lon, however,  was  already  a  Protestant  at  heart. ^  The  cardinal 
of  Lorraine  committed  the  power  of  inquiring  into  heresies  to 
only  one  of  the  chambers  of  parliament ;  which  showed  such 
alacrity  in  condemning  wretches  to  the  flames,  that  it  ob- 
tained the  infamous  name  of  la  chambre  ardente,  or  burning 
chamber. 

Nevertheless  the  new  opinions  continued  to  spread  and 
flourish  during  Henry's  reign.  Their  followers  became  nu- 
merous, and  distinguished  themselves  by  wearing  a  red  cap. 
1  Lacratelle,  Guerres  de  Reh,  i.,  81. 


390  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

The  first  Protestant  church  at  Paris  was  estabhshed  in  1555  ;  ^ 
and  in  May,  1559,  a  general  synod  was  held,  at  which  a  con- 
fession of  faith  Avas  drawn  up,  the  same  as  was  presented  two 
years  afterward  by  Beza  to  Charles  IX.,  at  the  conference  of 
Poissy.  This  was  founded  entirely  on  Calvin's  principles,  as 
laid  down  in  his  "  Institutes,"  and  which  he  had  been  able  to 
carry  out  only  imperfectly  at  Geneva.^  The  Reformed  doc- 
irines  had  particularly  spread  among  the  higher  classes  ;  and 
the  Fauxbourg  St.  Germain  had  thence  obtained  the  name 
of  "the  little  Geneva."^  It  has  been  already  mentioned  that 
in  September,  1557,  a  congregation  of  400  persons  was  sur- 
prised in  the  Rue  St.  Jaques,  among  whom  were  several  court 
ladies,  and  even  some  attached  to  the  person  of  the  queen. 
The  house  was  surrounded  by  the  mob,  and  the  adjoining 
houses  illuminated,  in  order  that  none  might  escape  in  the 
dark.  Many  fought  their  way  through  the  crowd,  but  more 
than  200  were  arrested,  some  of  whom  were  of  the  first  qual- 
ity. Catherine  de  Medicis  herself  is  said  to  have  shown 
symptoms  of  favoring  the  Protestants,  and  to  have  protected 
some  of  those  taken  on  this  occasion ;  in  opposition,  it  has 
been  conjectured,  to  the  Duchess  of  Valentinois,  her  husband's 
mistress.'* 

The  Protestants  now  numbered  in  their  ranks  some  of 
the  chief  nobility  of  France,  and  even  members  of  the  royal 
family ;  as  Anthony  of  Bourbon,  king  of  Navarre,  the  first 
prince  of  the  blood,  and  his  brother  Louis,  prince  of  Conde ; 
Admiral  Coligny,  and  his  brother  d'Andelot,  colonel  of  the 
French  infantry  ;  the  Vidame  de  Chartres,  the  Baron  de  Jar- 
nac,  the  Count  of  Rochfoucault,  and  others.  The  conversion 
of  many  of  these,  however,  must  be  ascribed  to  other  causes 
than  conviction.  Works  of  religious  controversy  were  but 
little  read  in  France  ;  and  with  the  exception  of  Coligny,  and 
a  few  others,  the  French  nobility  had  neither  leisure  nor  in- 
clination for  such  inquiries.  Disgust  at  some  real  or  imagined 
slight  or  injury  at  court  was  frequently  the  cause  of  a  resort 
to  Geneva.  Something  must  also  be  attributed  to  fashion ; 
a  term  which  may  seem  strange  when  used  with  reference  to 
one  of  the  most  precise  and  rigid  forms  of  Christianity ;  but 

1  Hist,  des  Eglises  R&f.,  i.,  99.  It  was  in  this  year  that  Villegagnon  es- 
tablished a  colony  of  Calvinists  in  the  Brazils ;  the  first,  perhaps,  ever 
founded  from  religious  motives.  See  Hist,  des  Eglises  R^f.,  i.,  158.  JSTice 
ron,  vol.  xxii.     Maimbourg,  p.  100. 

2  See  P.  Henry,  iii.,  469.  This  confession,  consisting  of  forty  articles,  is 
given  at  length  in  the  Hist,  des  Eglises  R&f.,  i.,  173,  et  seq. 

3  Ibid.,  p,  S3X,  *  Lacratelle,  Guerres  de  Rel.,  i.,  239. 


STATE  OF  RKLIGION  IN  FRANCE.  391 

which  may  be  justified  by  the  fact  that  the  adoption  of  Cal- 
vinism did  not  produce  any  ameHoration  of  morals  among 
the  higher  classes  in  France,  which  remained  as  lax  as  ever/ 
The  custom  of  psalm-singing,  too,  was  not  without  its  effect 
on  a  lively  and  susceptible  nation ;  though  in  this  case  our 
imagination  must  not  wander  to  the  nasal  melody  of  our  own 
tabernacles.  The  psalms  had  been  versified  by  Marot,  the 
fashionable  poet  of  the  day,  and  were  sung  to  favorite  airs. 
Marot  was  proscribed  by  the  Sorbonne,  but  his  work  created 
quite  a  rage  ;  and  an  edition  of  it  published  at  Lyons,  in 
1555,  was  even  dedicated  to  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine.^  Thus 
Marot's  aspirations,  in  his  Address  to  the  ladies  of  France, 
were  almost  literally  fulfilled  : 

"  O  bien  heureux  qai  voh"  pourra 
Fleurir  le  temps,  que  Ton  orra, 
Le  laboareur  a  sa  charrue, 
Le  charretiei'  parmi  la  rue, 
Et  I'artisan  en  sa  boutique 
Avecques  un  Pseaume  ou  Cantique 
En  son  labeur  se  soulager,"  &,c. 

The  Pre  aux  clercs,  an  open  space  of  ground  belonging  to  the 
University  of  Paris,  was  occupied  by  the  Calvinists  for  their 
meetings ;  not,  however,  without  some  violent,  and  even  bloody 
contests  with  the  monks  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Victor,  who  en- 
deavored to  exclude  them.  On  one  occasion,  in  the  year  1557, 
some  Protestants  assembled  on  this  spot,  began  singing  Ma- 
rot's psalms,  and  were  soon  joined  by  an  immense  multitude. 
For  several  days  afterward  5000  or  6000  persons,  among  whom 
were  the  King  and  Queen  of  Navarre,  assembled  every  even- 
ing for  the  same  purpose  ;  nor  would  the  parliament  of  Paris 
interfere  to  prevent  them.  D'Andelot,  however,  was  arrested 
for  having  attended  these  meetings,  and  for  having  performed 
divine  service  at  his  house  according  to  the  Calvinistic  method. 
During  an  angry  examination  by  the  king  in  person,  D'Ande- 
lot was  bold  enough  to  assert  that  he  regarded  the  mass  as  an 
execrable  profanation.  He  was  imprisoned,  and  deprived  of 
his  colonelcy ;  but  the  influence  of  his  brother,  the  Cardinal 
de  Chatillon,  one  of  the  inquisitors,  prevented  matters  from 
being  carried  to  extremity,  although  the  Pope,  Paul  IV.,  press- 
ed for  his  punishment ;  and  he  was  liberated  from  prison  on 
consenting  to  hear  a  mass,  notwithstanding  that  he  refused  to 
renounce  his  religious  opinions.^ 

Thus,  on  the  whole.  Protestantism  had  been  steadily  gain- 

1  Lacratelle,  Gverres  de  Rel.,  i.,  325. 
2  CEuvres  de  Marot,  iv.,  212.  ^  fjjgt^  ^^g  Egl.  Rif.,  i.,  141. 


392  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ing  ground  in  France  during  the  reign  of  Henry  II. ;  and, 
toward  its  close,  brighter  prospects  seemed  to  be  opening  on 
the  followers  of  the  Reformation.  The  king  had  even  como, 
to  the  resolution  of  dismissing  the  Duke  of  Guise  and  his 
brother  the  cardinal ;  and  in  a  lit  de  justice  held  on  the  15th 
of  June,  1559,  the  presidents  Harlai,  De  Thou,  and  Seguier, 
openly  condemned  the  persecutions  which  had  been  resorted 
to,  on  the  ground  of  their  impolicy.^  But  before  the  month 
had  expired,  Henry  was  wounded  by  the  lance  of  Montgom- 
ery in  a  tournament,  held  to  celebrate  his  sister's  marriage 
with  the  son  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  died  a  few  days  after- 
ward of  the  injury.  Francis  II.,  the  heir  to  the  throne,  was 
sixteen  years  of  age,  and  therefore,  by  the  laws  of  France, 
entitled  to  assume  the  reins  of  government ;  but  his  delicate 
health  and  weakness  of  intellect  rendered  a  regency  necessary. 
The  King  of  Navarre,  as  first  prince  of  the  blood,  had  the  best 
pretensions  to  be  regent ;  and  as  the  queen-mother  herself  had 
shown  some  favor  to  the  Calvinists,  and  as  the  influence  of  the 
Duchess  of  Valentinois  was  now  at  an  end,  the  hopes  of  that 
party  were  naturally  raised  to  a  high  pitch.  But  these  ap- 
pearances were  deceitful.  Guise,  and  his  brother  the  cardinal, 
in  conjunction  with  the  queen- mother,  seized  upon  the  govern- 
ment, while  the  young  king,  under  pretense  of  ill-health,  wais 
kept  a  prisoner  at  Blois.  The  King  of  Navarre  proceeded 
from  Beam  to  Paris,  where  the  regency  seemed  to  be  await- 
ing him  ;  and  promised  the  Reformed  congregations,  which 
he  passed  on  his  road,  to  promote  their  interests  ;  but  on  his 
arrival  he  was  treated  with  many  indignities,  which  he  did 
not  even  make  a  show  of  resenting  ;  and  after  assisting  at  the 
coronation  of  the  young  king  at  Rheims,  on  the  18th  of  Sep- 
tember, was  dismissed  on  the  pretext  of  conducting  Francis's 
sister  to  her  husband,  the  King  of  Spain.''  Catherine  de 
Medicis,  under  the  influence  of  the  Guises,  now  began  to 
show  an  undisguised  hostility  toward  the  Protestants,  who 
were  pursued  with  the  utmost  rigor  and  cruelty.  Paris  pre- 
sented the  aspect  of  a  city  taken  by  assault.  Bands  of  armed 
police,  on  foot  and  horseback,  passed  to  and  fro,  conducting 
prisoners  of  all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions.  The  Calvinists 
were  forced  to  fly,  leaving  their  houses  and  property  at  the 
mercy  of  the  sbirri,  or  sergeants,  of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine. 
Auctions  of  furniture  were  established  at  the  corners  of  the 
streets,  which  were  choked  with  wagons  carrying  off  the  spoil. 

i  Hist,  des  Egl.  Rif.,  i.,  267.    Laoratelle,  Guerres  de  Rel,  i.,  304. 
2  Ibid.,  i.,  226. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  AMBOISE.  393 

So  great  was  the  plunder,  that  the  rich  became  suddenly  poor, 
and  the  poor  rich.  One  De  Mouchy  was  appointed  inquisitor, 
who  assunaed  the  name  of  Demochares.  This  man  kept  in 
pay  an  army  of  informers ;  and  the  most  unscrupulous  means 
were  resorted  to  in  order  to  inflame  the  minds  of  the  popu- 
lace, already  sufficiently  inclined  that  way,  against  the  Cal- 
vinists.  Witnesses  were  suborned  to  testify  that  they  had 
surprised  them  in  the  commission  of  the  most  infamous  de- 
baucheries. Violence  and  fanaticism  were  openly  encouraged, 
-and  the  people  allowed  to  erect  crosses  and  rude  statues  in 
the  streets,  which  they  compelled  the  passengers  to  salute, 
and  to  support  by  contributions  of  money. ^  The  fires  of  per- 
secution were  again  lighted ;  and  one  of  the  first  victims  was 
Anne  au  Bourg,  a  clergyman  of  a  good  family  in  Auvergne, 
who  was  hanged  and  afterward  burned,  on  the  22d  of  De- 
cember, 1559. 

Toward  the  end  of  that  year  the  discontent  excited  by  the 
conduct  of  the  Guises  gave  birth  to  the  formidable  conspiracy 
of  Amboise.  Calvin  was  very  generally  accused  of  being  its 
originator,  and  he  himself  admits  that  he  was  acquainted  with 
it  from  the  beginning ;  but  affirms  that  he  used  all  his  en- 
deavors, both  publicly  and  privately,  to  prevent  its  execution.' 
Geofiroy  de  la  Barre,  or  du  Barry,  Sieur  de  la  Renaudie,  a 
gentleman  of  Perigord,  and  chief  mover  in  the  plot,  was  well 
known  to  Calvin,  and  boasted  to  him  at  Geneva  of  having 
been  appointed  to  conduct  it.  De  la  Barre  was  a  man  of 
broken  fortunes,  and  ready  for  any  desperate  undertaking. 
Under  his  superintendence  the  plan  of  the  conspiracy  was 
concerted  partly  at  Vendome,  the  residence  of  the  King  of 
Navarre,  and  partly  at  La  Ferte  sous  Jouare,  that  of  the 
Prince  of  Conde.  The  object  of  it  was  to  seize  the  Guises, 
and  bring  them  to  trial ;  and  Conde  had  consented  to  join  in 
it  only  on  the  condition  that  nothing  should  be  attempted 
against  the  king,  or  royal  family.  One  of  the  conspirators,  a 
lawyer  named  Avenelles,  becoming  alarmed  as  the  time  for 
action  approached,  revealed  the  plot  to  a  servant  of  the  Car- 
dinal of  Lorraine.  That  prelate,  so  insolent  and  cruel  in 
prosperity,  and  so  prompt  to  shed  the  blood  of  others,  was 
totally  destitute  of  courage,  and  trembled  at  the  sight  of  a 
naked  sword.     He  was  overwhelmed  with  terror  at  the  news ; 

1  Hist,  des  Eglises  R6f.,  i.,  233,  et  seq.     Lacratelle,  i.,  340. 

a  Calvin  to  Ballinger,  Ep.  293.  On  the  other  hand  some  authors,  as 
Basnage  [Hist,  de  la  Rel.  des  Eglises  Rif.,  ii.,  196K  have  affirmed  that  it 
was  concocted  by  Catherine  de  Medicis,  to  check  trie  power  of  the  Guises, 
But  this  seems  highly  improbable. 


394  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

but  the  Duke  of  Guise,  to  whom  fear  was  unknown,  imme- 
diately adopted  the  most  energetic  methods  to  baffle  the  con- 
spirators. The  court  was  removed  from  Blois  to  Amboise, 
where  the  castle  was  secure  against  a  coup  de  main.  By  a 
stroke  as  bold  as  it  was  politic  Guise  made  his  very  enemies 
become  surety  for  the  king's  safety.  Some  of  the  chief  con- 
spirators, including  Coligny,  and  even  Conde  himself,  were 
summoned  to  the  monarch's  defense.  To  Conde  was  intrusted 
the  command  of  the  castle  of  Amboise  ;  and  thus,  though 
apparently  placed  in  the  post  of  honor,  he  was  in  reality  a 
prisoner. 

The  conspirators,  nevertheless,  persisted  in  their  enterprise  ; 
but  their  plans  were  again  betrayed  by  a  Captain  Lignieres.^ 
De  la  Barre,  while  marching  to  join  the  Baron  de  Castelnau, 
who,  with  300  men,  had  seized  the  castle  of  Noizai,  was  in- 
tercepted in  the  forest  of  Chateau  Renaud,  himself  killed,  and 
his  troops  dispersed.  Castelnau  capitulated ;  but  being  con- 
ducted to  Amboise  was  arrested  on  entering  the  town.  The 
Duke  of  Guise  was  now  for  the  second  time  named  lieutenant- 
general  of  the  kingdom ;  and,  at  the  instance  of  the  Chancellor 
Olivier,  proclaimed  a  general  amnesty,  provided  the  conspir- 
ators laid  down  their  arms.  A  large  body  of  them,  how- 
ever, ignorant,  probably,  of  what  had  occurred,  marched  upon 
Amboise.  Guise  fell  upon  and  routed  them  with  dreadful 
slaughter.  Conde  himself  was  forced  to  fight  against  them. 
The  amnesty  was  revoked,  and  at  the  instance  of  the  Cardinal 
of  Lorraine,  the  prisoners  at  Amboise,  to  the  number  of  1200, 
were  put  to  death  without  trial  or  inquiry  :  only  some  of  the 
leaders  were  reserved  for  torture,  in  order  to  get  evidence 
against  the  Bourbon  princes  and  the  Colignys.  The  only 
name  mentioned  by  them,  however,  was  that  of  Conde  ;  and 
after  all  the  evidence  possible  had  been  extracted  from  them, 
they  were  executed  in  presence  of  the  court.  Conde  being 
arrested  and  examined,  contented  himself  with  declaring  that 
he  had  not  conspired  against  the  king ;  giving  the  he  to  all 
who  charged  him  with  having  done  so,  and  offering  to  maintain 
his  assertion  by  single  combat.  As  a  fitting  termination  to 
this  strange  affair.  Guise  proposed  to  become  his  second ;  but 
of  course  no  accuser  appeared,  and  Conde  retired  from  court, 
meditating  on  schemes  of  vengeance.*  It  was  after  this  con- 
spiracy that  the  name  of  Huguenots,  was  first  apphed  to  the 

1  Davila,  i.,  75. 

2  Davila,  i.,  65.  et  seq.  Maimbourg;,  p.  127,  et  seq.  Lacratelle,  Guerres 
de  Rel.,  i.,  343,  et  seq. 


PROGRESS  OF  CALVINISM  IN  FRANCE.  395 

Calvinists,  the  etymology  of  which  has  given  rise  to  so  many 
conjectures.^ 

Such  was  the  issue  of  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise,  which, 
instead  of  overthrowing  the  Guises,  resulted,  like  all  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  of  the  same  sort,  only  in  strengthening  their 
hands.  Calvin  was  strongly  suspected  at  court  of  having 
been  privy  to  the  whole  affair.  The  king  was  advised  to 
destroy  Geneva,  as  the  source  of  all  these  disturbances  ;  and 
so  strict  a  watch  was  kept  upon  Calvin,  that  the  very  words 
of  a  letter  to  a  friend,  in  which  he  had  given  an  account  of 
the  state  of  things  in  France,  were  repeated  in  the  French 
privy  council.^ 

Calvin's  doctrines,  indeed,  were  now  making  such  a  rapid 
progress  in  France  as  might  well  alarm  the  government.  They 
were  spreading  in  Poitou,  Saintonge,  Aquitaine,  Languedoc, 
Provence,  Dauphine,  and  particularly  in  Normandy  ;  where 
they  flourished  under  the  protection  of  Coligny,  whose  post 
of  admiral  gave  him  much  influence  in  that  province.  Nearly 
thirty  years  before,  however,  the  Reformation  had  gained  so 
many  adherents  there,  that  it  began  to  be  called  "  little  Ger- 
many."^ The  Calvinists  of  Normandy  used  now  to  assemble 
in  the  open  air,  in  bodies  of  three  or  four  thousand.*  Even 
several  of  the  French  prelates  were  inclined  toward  Calvinistic 
tenets.  In  this  alarming  state  of  things  it  was  deemed  ad- 
visable to  take  some  measures  for  the  safety  of  the  kingdom. 
The  rigor  of  persecution  was  somev/hat  relaxed  by  the  edict 
of  Romorantin,  by  which  all  inquiries  into  heresy  Were  in- 
trusted to  prelates  alone,  and  all  parliaments  and  judges  ex- 
pressly forbidden  to  meddle  with  the  subject.  An  assembly 
of  notables  was  summoned  to  meet  at  Fontainebleau  on  the 
21st  of  August,  1560,  to  determine  on  what  course  should  be 
taken.  At  this  meeting,  over  which  the  young  king  presided, 
Admiral  Coligny,  with  his  brothers  d'Andelot  and  Cardinal 
Chatillon,  the  Vidame  de  Chartres,  and  others,  appeared  on 
the  Protestant  side.  They  were  escorted  by  a  large  body  of 
cavalry.  The  King  of  Navarre,  and  the  Prince  of  Conde, 
were  invited,  but  refused  to  attend.^ 

Before  the  business  of  the  day  began,  Coligny,  to  the  sur- 
prise of  the  assembly,  suddenly  rose  and  presented  a  petition 
to  the  king  from  the  Protestants  of  Normandy,  praying  that 

^  See  Pasquier,  Recherches  de  la  France,  livre  viii.,  ch.  Iv.,  p.  857.  Hist, 
des  Eglises  Ref.,  i.,  269. 

2  Calvin  to  Salzer,  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  476. 

3  Bucer  to  Luther,  Aug.  25th,  1530,  apud  Gerdesius,  iv.,  73. 

*  Calvin,  Ep.  300.     Maimbourg,  p.  135.  *  Davila,  i,  89. 


396  LIFE  OF  JOHiN  CALVIN. 

they  might  be  allowed  to  meet  for  worship  in  the  day-time, 
in  order  to  avoid  the  suspicions  and  calumnies  to  which  their 
nocturnal  meetings  exposed  them  :  adding,  that,  if  the  king 
would  permit  him,  he  could  get  the  petition  signed  by  50,000 
men.  He  further  complained  of  the  mode  in  which  the  young 
king  was  brought  up ;  his  person  being  surrounded  with  guards, 
and  he  thus  taught  to  look  upon  his  subjects  as  enemies,  when 
he  should  rather  seek  to  live  in  their  hearts  and  affections.^ 
Charles  de  Marillac,  Archbishop  of  Vienne,  also  made  a  long 
speech  in  favor  of  religious  freedom,  which  he  concluded  by 
advising  the  calling  of  a  national  council.^  The  Duke  of 
Guise  and  the  cardinal  displayed  much  violence  on  this  oc- 
casion. When  Coligny  talked  about  getting  his  petition 
signed  by  50,000  men,  the  former  retorted :  "  And  I  will 
place  myself  at  the  head  of  100,000,  who  will  support  the 
contrary  with  their  blood."  ^  Yet,  on  the  whole,  the  Cathohc 
party  was  not  averse  to  an  assembly  of  French  theologians, 
provided  they  confined  their  discussions  to  any  practical  abuses 
existing  in  the  church,  and  meddled  not  with  articles  of  faith. 
The  result  of  the  deliberations  at  Fontainebleau  was,  that  the 
states  should  be  assembled  at  Orleans  in  the  following  October. - 

Shortly  after  this  meeting,  Jaques  Sage,  or  Sague,  a  servant 
of  the  King  of  NavaH'e,  was  arrested  on  his  road  to  Beam. 
Suspicious  papers  were  found  upon  him ;  and,  being  threatened 
with  torture,  he  revealed  a  plot  of  the  Prince  of  Conde's,  to 
which  the  King  of  Navarre  seemed  partly  to  accede,  to  seize 
Paris  by  means  of  Marshal  Montmorency,  the  constable's  son, 
who  was  governor  of  it ;  to  revolt  Picardy,  and  raise  the  Hu- 
guenots ;  to  depose  the  queen-mother  and  the  Guises ;  to  declare 
the  young  king  under  tutorship  till  the  age  of  twenty- two ;  and 
to  appoint  as  regents,  the  King  of  Navarre,  the  Prince  of 
Conde,  and  the  Constable  Montmorency.  The  last,  though 
a  bigoted  Catholic,  was  at  this  time  hostile  to  the  Guises,  in 
consequence  of  some  shghts  which  he  had  received  from  them 
after  the  death  of  Henry  II.,  and  had  retired  from  the  court 
to  his  seat  at  Chantilly. 

In  consequence  of  this  discovery,  the  Bourbon  princes  long 
hesitated  as  to  whether  they  should  attend  the  meeting  of 
the  states  summoned  at  Orleans.  At  length,  however,  they 
resolved  to  go  thither ;   but  no  sooner  did  they  make  their 

1  Calvin,  Ep.  300. 

2  Hist,  des  Eglises  Rif.,  i.,  277.  Maimbourg  (p.  146)  attributes  this  speech 
to  Jean  de  Montluc,  Bishop  of  Valence,  who  was  also  favorable  to  the  Cal- 
vinists.  3  Pasquier,  Lettres,  livre  iv.  *  Davila,  i.,  93. 


DANGER  AND  ESCAPE  OF  CONDE.  397 

appearance,  than  Conde  was  seized,  put  upon  his  trial,  and 
ultimately  condemned  to  lose  his  head.  But  from  this  fate 
he  was  rescued  by  the  sudden  and  unexpected  demise  of 
Francis  II,,  who  expired  after  a  short  illness,  on  the  oth  of 
December,  1560. 

This  event  made  a  great  change  in  the  aspect  of  affairs. 
It  was  at  first  anticipated  that  it  would  annihilate  the  power 
of  the  Guises,  which  had  been  in  a  considerable  degree 
founded  on  the  marriage  of  the  late  king  wdth  their  niece, 
Mary  Stuart,  afterward  Queen  of  Scots.  Moreover,  Francis's 
brother,  who  now  succeeded  to  the  throne,  with  the  title  of 
Charles  IX.,  was  a  boy  of  ten  years  of  age,  and  it  was  thought 
that  nothing  could  deprive  the  King  of  Navarre  of  his  lawful 
claim  to  the  regency.  But  the  artful  conduct  of  Catherine 
de  Medicis,  and  the  weak  and  spiritless  character  of  King 
Anthony,  soon  dissipated  all  these  anticipations.  By  the  ad- 
vice, it  is  said,  of  the  Chancellor  I'Hopital,  Catharine  now 
adopted  that  policy  of  balancing  one  party  by  the  other,  by 
which  she  succeeded  for  some  years  in  retaining  the  reins  of 
government  in  her  own  hands.  Anthony  was  induced  to 
abandon  his  pretensions  to  the  regency,  by  being  admitted  to 
some  show  of  power,  and  made  lieutenant-general  of  the  king- 
dom. The  Guises  were  still  retained  at  court,  whither  also 
Montmorency,  and  others  who  had  been  disgraced,  returned. 
The  queen-mother  herself  exercised  all  the  functions  of  the 
regency,  without  having  been  appointed  to  it  by  the  states, 
or  even  formally  assuming  the  title  of  regent.^  This  policy 
of  Catherine's  necessarily  led  her  to  give  some  encouragement 
to  the  Calvinists,  and  was  perhaps  one  of  the  chief  causes  of 
the  religious  wars  which  ensued. 

Yet  soon  after  the  accession  of  Charles  IX.,  we  find  the 
queen-mother  addressing  a  letter  in  his  name  to  the  council 
of  Geneva,  in  which  she  represented  the  preachers  sent  forth 
from  that  city  as  the  main  cause  of  the  troubles  in  France, 
and  requested  that  they  might  be  recalled.  Upon  receipt  of 
this  letter,  the  Genevese  council  summoned  the  ministers  to 
their  presence,  and  acquainted  them  with  the  charge  which 
it  contained.  Calvin,  who  replied  in  the  name  of  his  breth- 
ren, said  that  they  did  indeed  exhort  the  ministers  whom  they 
appointed,  to  do  their  duty,  and  to  spread  abroad  the  tidings 
of  salvation ;  but  he  denied  that  they  were  the  cause  of  the 
disturbances  which  prevailed  in  France,  and  affirmed  that 
they  had  done  all  in  their  power  to  keep  back  those  who  had 

'   Anquet.il,  Esprif  de  la  Lifr"c,  i.,  89. 


398  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN! 

been  desirous  of  going  to  Amboise.^  Geneva,  however,  was 
undoubtedly  the  chief  magazine  which  supplied  France  with 
preachers.  The  following  passage,  in  a  letter  from  Calvin  to 
Bullinger,  shows  the  great  demand  that  existed  for  them,  and 
that  the  former  was  not  always  very  scrupulous  about  the 
means  which  he  used  to  supply  it :  "We  are  asked,"  says  he, 
"  for  preachers  on  all  sides ;  inquirers  for  them  besiege  my 
door,  and  contend  for  them  with  pious  emulation.  We  are, 
however,  quite  exhausted ;  nay,  we  have  lately  been  obliged 
to  send  such  journeymen  out  of  the  booksellers'  shops  as  pos- 
sessed some  slight  tincture  of  learning  and  religious  knowl- 
edge."^ This  fully  corroborates  a  proclamation  which  ap- 
peared in  the  preceding  reign,  in  which  the  troubles  of  France 
are  ascribed  to  certain  preachers  sent  from  Geneva,  for  the 
most  part  mechanics,  and  men  without  any  education.^  The 
warranty  of  being  genuine  Genevan  seems  to  have  counter- 
balanced these  defects  :  just  as  a  favorite  mark  or  stamp  often 
enables  a  tradesman  to  pass  off  a  bad  article.  Another  letter 
from  a  Genevese  minister,  named  De  Beaulieu,  to  Farel,  also 
shows  the  extraordinary  demand  that  existed  at  this  time  in 
France  for  preachers.  "  I  can  not  express  to  you,"  the  writer 
says,  "  what  mercy  God  daily  shows  to  our  church.  From  sev- 
eral places,  as  Lyons,  Nismes,  Gap,  Grasse,  and  from  the  neigh- 
borhoods of  Orleans  and  Poictiers,  persons  are  come  hither 
demanding  laborers  for  the  new  harvest.  They  are  particu- 
larly pressing  us  from  Tournon  and  the  Agenois,  and  that, 
too,  at  the  instance  of  their  bishop ;  for  in  those  parts  more 
than  three  hundred  parishes  have  abohshed  the  mass,  but  are 
yet  without  a  minister.  The  poor  people  cry  out  for  hunger, 
but  there  is  none  to  distribute  to  them  the  bread  of  life.  It 
is  extraordinary  what  multitudes  attend  Calvin's  lectures  ;  I 
should  think  more  than  a  thousand  daily.  Viret  is  at  work 
in  the  district  of  Nismes ;  Bolot  has  been  sent  to  Macon-sur- 
Saone.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  if  from  four  to  six  thousand 
preachers  could  be  sent,  there  would  be  room  for  them  all.""* 
A  flattering  prospect,  this,  for  Calvin  !  He  was  now,  in- 
deed, in  the  zenith  of  his  influence  and  power.  Not  only  had 
he  triumphed  over  his  domestic  enemies,  and  obtained  almost 
complete  control  over  the  little  republic  of  Geneva,  but  Prot- 
estantism, modeled  strictly  after  his  own  principles,  seemed 

1  P.  Henry,  iii.,  482. 

2  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  483,  May  24th,  1561. 

3  "La  plupart  gens  mecaniques,  et  de  nuUe  litterature." — MSmoires  de 
Condi,  i.,  9. 

4  iluchat,  vi.,  p.  435.     The  letter  is  dated  Oct.  3d,  1561. 


THE  TRIUiMVIRATE.  399 

on  the  point  of  prevailing  throughout  France.  All  this  influ- 
ence, too,  he  enjoyed  without  sharing  in  the  dangers  of  the 
struggle  ;  but  sat  at  home  like  a  sovereign,  counseling  his 
agents  with  his  pen.  The  Reformed  church  at  Paris  num- 
bered among  its  members  some  of  the  greatest  men  in  France, 
and  Calvin  was  invited  tg  become  its  minister.  But  he  knew 
how  to  appreciate  the  blessings  of  security  and  the  charms 
of  an  almost  absolute  power ;  and  it  was,  therefore,  without 
much  difficulty  that  he  acceded  to  the  council's  request  that 
he  should  remain  at  Geneva. 

Catherine,  in  pursuance  of  her  newly-adopted  policy,  began 
to  treat  secretly  with  the  leaders  of  the  Huguenots,  and  to 
show  them  some  favor  and  affection  ;  either  with  the  view  of 
keeping  them  quiet  by  inspiring  them  with  false  hopes,  or  by 
way  of  counterpoise  to  the  power  of  the  Guises,  with  whom, 
however,  she  never  openly  broke.  By  a  decree  of  the  28th 
of  January,  1561,  all  prisoners  on  account  of  religion  were 
dismissed,  and  all  proceedings  instituted  on  that  score  abro- 
gated ;  but  at  the  same  time,  all  controversies,  as  well  as  the 
use  of  abusive  terms,  such  as  heretic  and  papist,  were  forbid- 
den, and  all  illegal  meetings  prohibited.^  On  the  return  of 
the  young  king  from  Rheims,  where  he  had  been  consecrated 
on  the  15th  of  May,  1561,  Admiral  Coligny  presented  to  him 
the  same  petition  which  had  caused  such  a  sensation  at  Fon- 
tainebleau  ;  and  Catherine  undertook  that  it  should  be  referred 
to  the  parliament  of  Paris. 

These  proceedings  on  the  part  of  the  queen-mother  caused 
a  closer  union  among  the  Roman  Catholic  party.  Jealousy 
toward  the  house  of  Lorraine  had  driven  the  Constable  Mont- 
morency to  join  the  Bourbon  princes,  and  the  Chatillons,  his 
nephews.  But  when  he  saw  that  the  religion  of  the  kingdom 
was  seriously  endangered  by  Catherine's  conduct,  he  forgot  his 
private  animosities  in  his  zeal  for  the  Catholic  faith,  and,  for 
the  purpose  of  maintaining  it,  was  induced  to  reconcile  him- 
self with  the  Guises.  The  Duchess  of  Valentinois,  and  the 
Marshal  St.  Andre,  were  the  means  of  effecting  this  recon- 
ciliation. Expensive  and  prodigal,  St.  Andre  had  repaired 
his  broken  fortunes,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  by  a  share  of 
the  confiscated  property  of  the  Calvinists ;  and  even  Mont- 
morency himself  had  participated  in  the  same  booty.^  Thus 
a  double  motive  operated  on  this  bigoted  old  man,  who  trem- 
bled at  once  for  his  religion  and  for  his  property.  It  was 
early  in  1561  that  he  entered  into  a  league  with  the  Duke  of 
^  Davila,  i.,  138.  2  Anquetil,  i.,  102. 


400  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Guise,  and  the  Marshal  St.  Andre,  for  the  purpose  of  sup- 
porting Roman  CathoUcism  ;  and  by  way  of  solemn  confirm- 
ation, the  parties  to  it  took  the  sacrament  together  on  the 
Easter-day  of  that  year.^  The  ramifications  of  this  league, 
which  obtained  the  name  of  the  Triumvirate^  extended  how- 
ever, beyond  France.  Philip  II.  of  Spain  was  its  declared 
head  ;  and  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  the  Pope,  and  some  of 
the  Italian  princes,  engaged  to  give  it  their  support.  One  of 
the  first  results  obtained  through  its  influence  was  the  famous 
edict  of  July :  which,  though  it  protected  the  Huguenots  from 
insult,  and  gave  them  an  immunity  for  past  ofienses,  yet,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  forbade  them  the  exercise  of  their  religon, 
either  in  public  or  private,  till  a  general  council  should  have 
been  called ;  and  meanwhile  declared  the  Roman  Catholic 
faith  to  be  the  only  one  permitted  in  the  state.  The  Protest- 
ants, however,  were  strong  enough  to  disregard  this  prohi- 
bition ;  and  the  court  found  it  advisable  to  connive  at  their 
religious  assemblies. 

Coligny's  indignation  at  these  proceedings  roused  b'm  to 
propose  that  the  King  of  Navarre  should  be  proclaimed  regent 
in  the  place  of  the  queen-mother.  Alarmed  at  this  step,  the 
latter  began  to  think  seriously  of  efiecting  a  reconciliation  be- 
tween the  two  religious  parties.  The  demand  of  the  Prince 
of  Conde,  and  of  the  admiral,  for  a  conference  between  the 
Calvinistic  ministers  and  the  prelates  of  France,  a  scheme 
which  had  been  long  in  agitation,  was  now  assented  to  by  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine  ;  and  it  was  arranged  that  the  meeting 
should  be  held  at  Poissy  on  the  10th  of  August.  The  cardinal 
may,  perhaps,  have  been  partly  induced  to  take  this  step  by 
Francis  Baudouin,  a  jurisconsult  of  some  eminence,  who  had 
once  been  a  pupil  of  Calvin's  but  afterward  became  one  of  his 
bitterest  opponents.  This  man  had  brought  from  Germany  a 
book  just  published  by  George  Cassander,  containing  propo- 
sals for  the  union  of  Romanists  and  Protestants,  but  of  such  a 
nature  as  rendered  them  wholly  inadmissible  by  the  latter. 
Baudouin,  however,  was  patronized  by  the  King  of  Navarre, 
who  thought  him  just  the  man  for  the  conjuncture,  and  intro- 
duced him  to  the  queen-mother,  and  to  the  Cardinal  of  Lor- 
raine.^ 

From  various  causes  the  conference  was  put  off  till  the  9th 

1  Maimbourg.  Hist,  du  Calvinisme,  p.  196. 

2  Schlosser,  Leben  des  Th.  de  Beza,  p.  101.  Maimbourg,  p.  209.  The 
title  of  Cassander's  book  was  "  De  Officio  pii  et  puhlicce  Tranquillitatis  vere 
amantis  Viri  in  hoc  Religionis  Discidio. 


CONFERENCE  OF  POISSY.  401 

of  September.  The  leaders  of  the  Reformed  party  in  France 
wished  Calvin  to  attend  it,  and  an  application  to  that  effect 
was  made  to  the  council  of  Geneva  ;  but  the  latter  would  not 
permit  Calvin  to  go  unless  hostages  of  the  first  rank  were 
given  for  his  safety/  The  state  of  Calvin's  health,  too,  at 
this  period,  made  it  unadvisable  for  him  to  undertake  so  long 
a  journey  ;  and  the  management  of  the  conference  was  there- 
fore intrusted  to  Beza.  Before  proceeding  to  Poissy,  Beza 
went  to  Zurich,  to  persuade  Peter  Martyr,  who  was  then  re- 
siding at  that  place,  to  accompany  him.  Here  also  he  came 
to  an  understanding  with  Bullinger  as  to  the  language  he 
should  use  at  the  conference,  as  the  latter  had  been  displeased 
with  his  conduct  at  Worms.  Beza  set  off  for  France  without 
any  safe-conduct,  and  arrived  at  St.  Germain-en-Laye  on  the 
23d  of  August.  During  his  absence  his  duties  at  Geneva 
were  undertaken  by  Calvin,  and  his  salary  was  continued  to 
his  wife.^ 

Beza  has  described  his  reception  at  St.  Germains,  and  the 
progress  of  the  conference,  in  several  letters  to  Calvin.*  The 
leaders  of  the  Huguenot  party,  the  King  of  Navarre,  the 
Prince  of  Conde,  and  Coligny,  as  well  as  the  Cardinals  Bourbon 
and  Chatillon,  welcomed  him  warmly.  On  the  day  after  his 
arrival  he  preached  at  the  prince's  hotel,  to  a  numerous  and 
distinguished  audience.  After  supper,  about  nine  o'clock,  he 
was  suddenly  summoned  to  the  chamber  of  the  King  of  Nav- 
arre, where,  to  his  great  surprise,  he  found  the  queen-mother, 
surrounded  by  the  Cardinals  of  Lorraine  and  Bourbon,  Ma- 
dame de  Crussol,  and  others.  Nothing  disconcerted  at  this 
unexpected  rencounter,  Beza  notified  to  the  queen  the  cause  of 
his  coming,  and  expressed  his  desire  to  serve  his  country ;  to 
which  Catherine  graciously  replied  that  it  would  afford  her 
the  greatest  pleasure  to  see  affairs  settled  on  such  a  foundation 
as  should  secure  peace  and  happiness  to  the  kingdom.  The 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine  then  addressed  Beza.  saying  that  he  had 
made  his  acquaintance  before  from  his  writings,  and  exhorted 
him  to  use  all  his  endeavors  for  the  establishment  of  concord  : 
adding,  that  he  had  now  an  opportunity  to  appease  by  his 
presence  those  tumults  which,  while  absent,  he  had  excited 
by  his  works.  Hereupon  Beza  again  declared  his  loyalty  to- 
ward his  king  and  country  ;  and  affirmed  that  even  if  it  were 

1  P.  Henry,  iii.,  499. 

2  "  On  donne  les  gages  de  M.  de  Beze  a  sa  femme,  et  on  lui  fait  ofFrir  ce 
dont  il  aura  besoin  quoique  il  soit  absent." — Rigistres,  11  Nov.,  1561,  Gre 
nus,  Fragmens  Biographiques. 

3  See  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Re.^p.,  Ep.  309,  et  seq. 


402  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

possible  for  a  person  of  so  small  consideration  as  himself  to 
create  disturbance  in  so  great  a  kingdom,  yet  that  he  had  ever 
been  averse  to  such  a  course,  as  his  writings  would  testify,  and 
as  would  be  still  further  manifest  in  the  course  of  the  impend- 
ing conference.  Catherine  then  asked  him  if  he  had  written 
any  thing  in  French  ]  Beza  replied  that  he  had  published  in 
that  language  a  translation  of  the  Psalms,  and  an  answer  to 
the  "  Confession  of  Faith"  put  forth  by  the  Duke  of  Northum- 
berland. Catherine  was  led  to  put  this  question  because 
Beza  had  been  denounced  to  her  as  the  author  of  a  libelous 
poem  which  had  been  circulated  in  France  the  year  before  ; 
and  he  now,  in  the  queen's  presence,  affirmed  that  he  had  had 
no  hand  in  it.  Catherine  next  inquired  about  Calvin's  age, 
and  state  of  health  ;  after  which  the  cardinal  drew  Beza  into 
a  long  argument  respecting  the  real  presence  in  the  eucharist ; 
and  then,  after  some  gracious  words  addressed  to  Beza  by  the 
queen  and  by  the  cardinal,  the  party  broke  up.  The  latter 
afterward  gave  out  that  he  had  worsted  Beza  in  argument ; 
and  a  report  was  even  spread  at  Poissy  that  he  had  converted 
him  to  the  Romish  faith. ^ 

The  conference  was  opened  on  the  9th  of  September,  in  the 
refectory  of  the  nuns  of  Poissy.  The  Reformed  Church  was 
represented  on  this  occasion  by  twelve  ministers  and  twenty- 
two  deputies ;  making,  with  Peter  Martyr,  who  arrived  soon 
after  Beza,  thirty- five  persons.  Against  them  was  arrayed 
all  the  splendor  of  the  French  court,  and  all  the  learning  and 
authority  of  the  French  hierarchy.  The  young  king  presided, 
surrounded  by  the  queen-mother,  the  King  and  Queen  of  Nav- 
arre, the  Duke  of  Guise,  the  Cardinals  of  Lorraine,  Tournon, 
Bourbon,  d'Armignac,  together  with  many  bishops,  prelates, 
doctors  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  theologians  convoked  from  the 
most  celebrated  universities  of  the  kingdom.^  The  states  met 
at  Pontoise  at  the  same  time ;  and  it  required  all  the  art  of 
Catherine  to  prevent  them  from  depriving  her  of  the  regency. 

In  every  thing  but  learning  Beza  was  probably  better 
qualified  than  Calvin  to  conduct  a  conference  of  this  descrip- 
tion. His  handsome  person  and  noble  bearing,  his  presence 
of  mind  and  natural  fluency  of  speech,  qualified  him  admirably 
to  treat  with  Catherine  and  her  courtiers.  With  the  theolo- 
gians arrayed  against  him  he  was  not  so  well  fitted  to  cope. 
He  had  not,  as  we  have  seen,  seriously  applied  himself  to  the 
study  of  divinity  till  after  his  arrival  in  Geneva  in  1548,  when 
he  wanted  time  and  opportunity  to  obtain  a  thorough  mastery 

»  Galvin,  Epj>.  et  Resp.,  Epp.  309,  310.  2  Davila.  i.,  151, 


CONFERENCE  OF  POISSY.  403 

of  the  Fathers  of  the  church,  and  of  the  theology  of  the  schools ; 
and  had,  therefore,  devoted  himself  in  preference  to  the  critical 
study  of  the  Scriptures  in  their  original  languages.^  He  was 
himself  painfully  aware  of  his  deficiency  in  patristic  lore  ;  and 
in  a  letter  addressed  to  Calvin  from  St.  Germains  before  the 
opening  of  the  conference,  expressed  his  apprehension  of  not 
being  able  to  unravel  the  webs  of  the  veteran  theological  soph- 
ists whom  he  saw  opposed  to  him,  and  of  rebutting  their  quo- 
tations from  the  Fathers,  in  a  manner  that  might  not  expose 
him  to  defeat  before  that  august  and  learned  audience.^  On 
this  head  Calvin  consoled  him  by  observing  that  he  would 
soon  have  Peter  Martyr  with  him,  the  most  learned  of  the 
Reformers.  And  as  Calvin  had  never  entertained  the  opinion 
that  the  conference  would  have  any  results  of  moment,  he 
advised  Beza  to  lay  aside  his  apprehensions,  and  to  take  his 
word  that  the  French  prelates  would  never  come  to  any  serious 
disputation.'*^ 

The  young  king  opened  the  conference  with  a  short  speech, 
in  which  he  directed  his  chancellor  to  explain  more  at  large 
to  the  meeting  the  reason  of  its  being  called  together.  The 
Cardinal  of  Tournon,  who,  as  dean  of  the  college  of  cardinals 
and  primate  of  France,  had  the  management  of  the  debate, 
addressed  the  assembly  after  the  chancellor,  thanking  the  king 
for  his  speech  ;  after  which  the  Reformed  ministers  were 
called  in.  Before  he  began  his  speech,  Beza,  together  with 
the  rest  of  the  Calvinistic  deputies,  and  such  of  the  nobility 
as  were  inclined  to  their  tenets,  fell  down  upon  his  knees,  and 
lifting  up  his  hands  toward  heaven,  pronounced  the  Lord's 
Prayer  and  the  Protestant  confession,  concluding  with  a  short 
prayer  suited  to  the  occasion."*  He  then  addressed  the  assem- 
bly in  a  long  and  labored  speech,  which  was  heard  with  silent 
attention  till  he  came  to  the  subject  of  the  eucharist :  but 
when  he  said,  that,  though  the  body  of  Christ  is  really  par- 
taken of  in  that  sacrament,  yet  that  the  body  is  as  far  from 
the  bread  as  heaven  is  from  earth,  a  great  sensation  was 
excited  among  the  prelates.  They  exclaimed  that  he  had 
blasphemed ;  and  notwithstanding  the  king's  presence,  some 
made  as  if  they  would  leave  the  hall.  Cardinal  Tournon 
demanded  that  he  should  be  silenced,  or  that  the  clergy 
should  be  permitted  to  depart ;  but  this  was  not  acceded  to. 
The  sitting  was  closed  by  a  speech  from  that  cardinal.     On 

I  Schlosser,  Lehen  des  Th.  de  Beza,  p.  28. 

a  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  310.  3  Ep.  313. 

*  Schlosser,  p.  117,  Hist,  des  Eglises  Rif.,  i.,  502,  et.  seq. 


404  .   LIFE  OF  JOHN  GALVfN. 

the  following  day  Beza  wrote  a  letter  to  the  queen-mother,  to 
explain  what  he  had  said  ahout  the  eucharist.  The  next 
meeting  was  appointed  for  the  16th  of  September,  when  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine  replied  on  two  points  ;  the  eucharist, 
and  the  authority  of  the  church.  Claude  Despence,  the  cel- 
ebrated theologian,  is  said  to  have  composed  his  speech  for 
him,  and  sat  behind  him  during  its  delivery  as  prompter.^ 

After  these  two  meetings  the  Roman  Catholic  party  de- 
termined that  the  discussion  should  no  longer  be  carried  on 
before  the  king,  nor  in  a  public  hall ;  but  that  twelve  persons, 
selected  from  each  side,  should  continue  the  conference  in  a 
private  house.  P.  Martyr,  who  had  not  arrived  in  time  for 
the  public  disputation,  came  to  Poissy  three  days  before  the 
private  one,  which  took  place  on  the  24th  of  September. 
Beza  addressed  the  meeting  on  this  occasion,  and  was  answer- 
ed by  Despence.  When  Beza  was  going  to  reply,  a  little 
White  monk,  named  De  Xaintes,  interrupted  him  by  a  violent 
and  abusive  speech,  in  which  he  drew  a  parallel  between  the 
Protestant  ministers  and  the  Anabaptists,  who  pretended  to 
be  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Toward  the  close  the  Cardi- 
nal of  Lorraine  wanted  to  make  the  ministers  sign  a  passage 
extracted  from  the  "  Confession  of  Wittenberg,"  acknowledg- 
ing the  real  presence  ;  and  by  way  of  enforcing  his  argument, 
produced  a  passage  from  Calvin's  reply  to  Hesshus,  in  which 
the  word  substantialiter  is  used  with  regard  to  the  eucharist. 
This  was,  however,  a  plain  misapprehension  of  Calvin's  views. 
At  another  discussion  on  the  26th  of  September,  P.  Martyr, 
not  being  well  acquainted  with  French,  addressed  the  meet 
ing  in  Italian  ;  but  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  would  not  allow 
him  to  proceed  in  that  language.  Lainez,  a  Spaniard,  and 
general  of  the  Jesuits,  spoke  at  this  sitting,  and  protested 
altogether  against  the  meeting,  as  unauthorized.  His  speech, 
which  lasted  an  hour,  was  nothing  but  a  heap  of  abuse.  Yet 
it  had  the  intended  effect :  for  the  conference  was  subsequently 
reduced  to  five  managers  on  each  side ;  and  thus  gradually 
dwindling  away,  it  finally  broke  up  on  the  13th  of  October, 
and,  as  Calvin  had  predicted,  without  coming  to  any  result. 

Nevertheless,  the  conference  of  Poissy  gave  an  impulse  to 
the  Reformed  party  in  France.  They  took  heart,  and  began 
to  preach  openly ;  nay,  they  even  got  possession  of  some 
churches  ;  a  proceeding  which  Calvin^  seems  to  have  disap- 

1  Hist,  des  Egl.  Mf.,  i.,  525.  - 

2  "  The  occupation  of  the  churches  is  odious  to  the  king's  council ;  nor 
indeed  have  I  ever  approved  of  the  proceeding  till  some  public  settlement 


THE  QUEEN  FAVORS  THE  HUGUENOTS.  405 

proved  of,  as  impolitic.  The  countenance  shown  them  by 
Catherine  herself  helped  to  encourage  them.  A  Catholic 
writer  even  considers  it  doubtful  whether  she  may  not  have 
really  felt  some  inclination  toward  their  tenets  at  this  time, 
through  the  influence  of  her  confidantes,  Jacqueline,  Duchess 
of  Montpensier,  and  Frances,  Duchess  of  Usez,  two  declared 
Huguenots,  who  were  continually  speaking  to  her  in  favor  of 
Calvin's  reform  :  as  well  as  by  the  example  of  Margaret  and 
Jeanne,  the  two  Queens  of  Navarre,  and  of  Renee,  Duchess 
of  Ferrara,  and  Margaret,  Duchess  of  Savoy.*  From  a  letter 
of  Catherine's  to  the  Bishop  of  Rennes,  she  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  very  well  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  her  prelates 
at  Poissy  ;  and  even  spoke  but  coldly  of  the  speech  of  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine.*^  But,  whatever  may  have  been  her 
real  feelings,  her  conduct  toward  the  Huguenots  at  this  junc- 
ture, even  if  it  was  merely  the  effect  of  a  temporizing  policy, 
had  the  same  influence  in  encouraging  them  as  if  it  had  been 
sincere. 

Upon  the  dissolution  of  the  assembly  of  Poissy,  Beza  pre- 
pared for  his  departure  ;  but  the  queen  detained  him,  saying 
that  he  was  a  Frenchman,  and  that  she  stood  in  need  of  his 
assistance  to  quell,  if  possible,  the  disturbances  which  afflicted 
the  kingdom.^  We  find  Calvin  writing  to  him  on  the  21st 
of  October,  and  expressing  a  wish  for  his  speedy  return,  as  he 
was  himself  too  ill  to  undertake  his  duties  at  the  school,  which 
had  now  been  neglected  for  a  whole  month."*  The  council, 
too,  seems  to  have  been  anxious  for  his  presence,  as  not  only 
the  school,  but  the  affairs  of  the  church  also  were  faUing  into 
disorder,  for  want  of  effectual  superintendence.^  But  when 
Calvin  found  that  Beza  might  be  of  more  use  in  France  than 
at  Geneva,  he  advised  him  to  remain.^  The  leaders  of  the 
Hugenots  were  also  desirous  of  retaining  Beza  ;  and  in  De- 
cember we  find  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  Conde,  and  the  adnii- 

shoTild  be  come  to,  which  I  hope  will  be  in  a  short  time." — Calvin  to  Farel, 
Sept.  28th,  1561,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  519. 

1  Maimbourg,  Hist,  du  Calv.,  p.  190. 

2  "  due  les  ministres  Reformes  avoient  presente  au  coUoque  de  Poissy 
leur  confession  de  foi  et  leurs  remonstrances  ou  preuves  ;  qu'elle  avait 
espere  que  Messieurs  les  Prelats  y  repondroient,  mais  qu'elle  avait  attendu 
Jong-  temps  sans  voir  d' autre  reponse  que  celle  du  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  qrti 
Uoit  fort  prudente  et  cathoUque,  dont  son  dit  ambassadeur  pourroit  faire 
telle  part  a  I'Empereur  qu'il  jugeroit  a  propos." — Basnage,  Eglises  Ref., 
ii.,  431. 

3  Schlosser,  p.  147.  *  Ep.  324. 

5  See  Calvin's  letter  to  Beza,  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  521. 

6  At  this  time  Calvin  corresponded  with  him  under  the  assumed  name 
of  Passelius. 


406  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ral,  soliciting  and  obtaining  the  consent  of  the  council  of 
Geneva,  that  he  should  be  spared  to  them  a  few  months 
longer,  with  a  view  to  the  advancement  of  religion/ 

Under  these  circumstances  Calvinism  seemed  about  to 
make  a  rapid  progress  in  France.  Beza  obtained  permission 
to  preach  in  public ;  and  on  the  day  after  Christmas-day,  de- 
li vered  two  discourses  to  numerous  congregations  ;  one  in  the 
Fauxbourg  St.  Antoine,  and  the  other  in  that  of  St.  Marcel. 
D'Andelot,  at  the  head  of  a  numerous  band,  escorted  Beza 
through  the  streets  of  Paris  on  these  occasions ;  to  the  sur- 
prise of  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  assembled  in  great  num- 
bers, but  did  not  venture  to  make  any  opposition.  They 
resolved,  however,  to  get  up  a  disturbance  if  the  preaching 
was  repeated.  A  day  or  two  afterward  a  minister  named 
Malot  was  appointed  to  deliver  a  sermon  in  the  Fauxbourg 
St.  Marcel.  Beza  had  heard  of  the  intention  of  the  Catho- 
lics to  make  this  an  occasion  for  violence  and  riot,  and  had  at 
first  determined  not  to  be  present ;  but  on  hearing  that  a  large 
congregation  of  Protestants  had  assembled,  it  appeared  to  him 
that  his  absence  might  be  construed  into  a  dereliction  of  duty. 
He  therefore  went,  escorted,  by  command  of  the  queen- 
mother,  by  the  prefect  of  the  watch  and  his  men.  Scarcely 
had  Malot  begun  his  discourse,  when  the  priests  in  the  neigh- 
boring church  of  St.  Medard  commenced  ringing  the  bells 
with  all  their  might,  as  if  about  to  say  vespers.  One  of 
Malot's  congregation,  who  civilly  requested  them  to  desist, 
was  run  through  the  body  with  a  partisan.  This  was  the 
signal  for  a  general  affray.  The  priests  sounded  the  tocsin  to 
call  the  people  to  arms.  After  a  desperate  conflict,  the  Hugue- 
nots, led  by  the  prefect  of  the  watch,  succeeded  in  taking  the 
church  by  assault.  Thirty  six  of  the  Roman  Catholics  were 
captured,  and  among  them  ten  priests,  most  of  whom  had 
been  wounded.  They  were  conducted  through  the  city  to 
prison,  amid  a  crowd  of  people  who  looked  on  quietly.  On 
the  following  day  there  was  another  tumult  in  which  several 
of  the  Romanists  fell.  In  a  letter  to  Calvin  in  which  he 
describes  these  proceedings,  Beza  professes  not  to  approve  of 
them,  but  nevertheless  gives  God  thanks  for  the  victory.* 

In  January,  1562,  there  was  another  conference  on  a  small- 
er scale  at  StT  Germains.  On  this  occasion  the  Protestants 
were  represented  by  Beza,  Marlorat,  Peruscel,  Burbaste,  and 
a  minister  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre.    The  chief  person  on  the 

1  RSgistres,  22  Dec,  apud  Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographiques. 
-  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Ep.  329. 


EDICT  OF  JANUARY.  407 

other  side  was  the  Cardinal  of  Tournon,  who  was  supported 
by  a  great  many  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne,  Jesuits,  &c.  Cath- 
erine was  present,  with  the  cardinals  and  privy  council.  Like 
that  of  Poissy,  however,  this  meeting  led  to  no  result.  As 
there  appeared  no  chance  of  agreement  even  on  the  first  head 
of  discussion,  which  regarded  images,  and  which  seerned  to  be 
the  plainest,  the  queen-mother  broke  up  the  conference.  Beza 
describes  her  as  listening  to  these  debates  with  the  greatest 
patience,  and  as  exhorting  both  sides  to  concord.^ 

After  the  conference  of  Poissy,  Catherine  had  been  advised 
to  call  an  assembly  of  notables,  with  a  view  to  the  publica- 
tion of,  at  least,  some  provisional  edict  by  which  the  religious 
troubles  might  be  appeased.  This  step  was  violently  opposed 
by  the  Guises  and  their  party,  who  were  perhaps  fearful  lest. 
such  an  assembly  might  inquire  into  their  former  government. 
They  insisted  that  the  edict  of  July  should  remain  in  force  : 
but  when  they  found  the  queen  resolute  in  calling  this  assem- 
bly, the  Catholic  leaders  quitted  the  court  in  dudgeon,  and 
retired  to  their  country  seats.'  The  assembly,  composed  of 
the  presidents  and  counselors  of  the  parliaments  of  France, 
met  at  St.  Germains.  The  result  of  their  deliberations  was 
the  famous  decree  known  as  the  Edict  of  January,  from  its 
being  dated  on  the  17th  of  that  month,  1562.^  The  Chan- 
cellor I'Hopital  has  the  credit  of  having  carried  its  provisions, 
by  his  eloquence,  which  were  in  substance  :  That  all  the  pen- 
alties contained  in  former  edicts  against  the  Protestants  should 
be  provisionally  suspended,  till  the  determination  of  a  general 
council ;  that  they  should  be  permitted  to  have  divine  serv- 
ice during  the  day-time  in  the  suburbs  of  towns,  but  not  in 
the  towns  themselves ;  and  that  all  magistrates  should  be 
directed  not  to  interfere  with  them.  On  the  other  hand  they 
were  forbidden  to  come  armed  to  their  conventicles,  gentlemen 
excepted,  who  had  that  privilege  every  where :  they  were  com- 
manded to  evacuate  the  churches  of  which  they  had  taken 
possession,  and  to  restore  all  the  ornaments  and  sacred  utensils 
which  they  had  despoiled :  and  they  were  also  forbidden  to 
oppose  the  collection  of  tithes,  to  levy  troops,  or  to  raise  any 
contributions  among  themselves,  except  what  might  be  neces- 
sary for  the  subsistence  of  their  ministers. 

By  this  edict  the  expectations  of  the  Huguenots  were  raised 
to  a  very  high  pitch.     After  its  promulgation  Peter  Ramus, 

1  Calvin,  Epp.  et  Resp.,  Epp.  .331,  332. 

2  Hist,  des  Eglhes  R6f.,  i.,  667. 

3  Or  1561,  style  of  France. 


408  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

the  celebrated  opponent  of  the  Aristotelian  philosophy,  over- 
threw at  mid-day,  in  spite  of  its  provisions,  all  the  images  in 
the  chapel  attached  to  the  college  of  Presle,  of  which  he  was 
principal.'  Even  Calvin  himself,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
not  been  at  all  sanguine  that  any  thing  would  be  obtained 
from  the  French  com-t,  began  to  entertain  hopes  of  the  ulti- 
mate success  of  his  cause.  The  liberty  of  preaching  unmolest- 
ed was  indeed  a  most  important  concession ;  and  it  was  not 
unnatural  for  him  to  expect  that  the  errors  of  the  old  religion 
must  speedily  yield  to  the  constant  attacks  of  the  Protestant 
ministers.  Thus  we  find  him  writing  to  Sturm,  in  March, 
1562  :  "  If  the  liberty  promised  in  this  edict  be  maintained, 
Popedom  must  fall  of  its  own  accord . "  ^  But  how  short-sighted 
are  the  views  even  of  the  wisest  men  I  The  very  measure 
which  promised  to  bring  about  the  triumph  of  Protestantism 
in  France  proved  the  immediate  cause  of  the  civil  wars  which 
followed  ;  and  which,  after  many  years  of  bloodshed,  resulted 
only  in  establishing  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
faith. 

In  the  nicely  balanced  state  to  which  parties  were  now  re- 
duced in  France,  the  fate  of  religion  seemed  in  a  great  measure 
to  hang  on  the  conduct  of  one  man — the  King  of  Navarre. 
Weak,  sensual,  and  wholly  devoid  of  firmness  and  consistency 
of  character,  though  not  deficient  in  personal  courage,  the 
vacillating  conduct  of  Anthony  alternately  excited  the  hopes 
and  fears  of  both  parties.  From  a  letter  of  Calvin's  to  Bul- 
linger,  in  May,  1561,  we  find  that  even  then  Calvin  placed 
no  reliance  on  that  prince,  though  ostensibly  a  convert  to  his 
principles,  and  though  his  interests  naturally  made  him  an 
opponent  of  the  Guises.  In  this  letter  Calvin  says :  "  Faith- 
less and  inconstant,  the  King  of  Navarre  is  as  slothful  and 
flexible  ?s  he  is  liberal  of  his  promises.  Though  he  now  and 
then  discovers  some  sparks  of  manly  resolution,  which  promise 
to  burst  into  a  flame,  they  soon  become  extinct.  He  is  no 
more  to  be  trusted  than  a  prevaricator  in  a  court  of  law. 
He  is,  moreover,  a  slave  to  his  pleasures ;  and  a  certain  ma- 
tron (Catherine),  skilled  in  such  arts,  has  gotten  him  com- 
pletely in  her  power,  by  means  of  one  of  her  women.  The 
story  is  known  to  the  very  boys.  I  have  reprehended  him  for 
his  conduct  just  as  I  should  a  private  individual  of  my  flock  ; 
and  Beza  has  treated  him  quite  as  unceremoniously.  But 
he  thinks  it  a  discharge  in  full  for  his  conscience  if  he  swal- 

1  Maimbourgr  p.  249.  2  MS.  Bern,  apudV.  Henry,  iii.,  523. 


APOSTASY  OF  KING  ANTHONY.  40O 

lows  our  objurgations  patiently,  and  without  falling  into  a 
passion."  ^ 

The  lady  whom  Catherine  employed  to  subdue  the  King 
of  Navarre  was  Mademoiselle  la  Beraudi^re.  one  of  her  maids 
of  honor,  whose  knight  he  called  himself  His  attentions  to 
this  lady,  after  his  wound  at  the  siege  of  Rouen,  are  said  to 
have  been  the  cause  of  his  death.^  Catherine  employed  the 
same  means  of  seduction  with  other  leaders  of  both  parties ; 
and  for  this  purpose  chose  her  maids  of  honor,  not  merely  for 
their  personal  charms,  but  also  for  their  shrewdness  and  ad- 
dress. Conde,  the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  several  others,  were 
not  proof  against  these  arts :  Coligny  was  almost  the  only  one 
who  resisted  them  successfully.  Conde  is  said  not  to  have 
abandoned  one  of  his  numerous  mistresses,  on  account  of  his 
adopting  the  evangelical  religion.  He,  like  his  brother  An- 
thony, sometimes  stood  in  need  of  admonitions  from  Geneva ; 
but  probably  the  more  decided  character  of  that  prince,  and 
his  indispensableness  to  the  Calvinistic  cause,  occasioned  them 
to  be  administered  with  more  reserve  and  gentleness.  There 
is  extant  a  joint  letter  of  Calvin  and  Beza  to  Conde,  in  which 
his  foible  is  handled  very  tenderly  :^  and,  indeed,  Beza  was  not 
exactly  the  person  to  lecture  on  such  a  topic. 

It  was  the  aim  of  the  Triumvirate  to  detach  the  King  of 
Navarre  from  the  Huguenot  party,  in  which  they  at  length 
succeeded.  It  would  be  difficult  to  assign  Anthony's  real 
motives  for  deserting  the  Calvinists.  We  can  hardly  believe 
that  he  was  allured  by  the  baits  which  the  Triumvirate  held 
out  to  him  ;  one  of  which  was  the  hand  and  kingdom  of 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  the  niece  of  the  Guises.  Anthony 
could  not  accept  this  proposal  without  divorcing  his  wife, 
Jeanne  d'Albret ;  and  from  this  step,  in  spite  of  his  licen- 
tiousness, either  his  love  or  his  conscience  deterred  him. 
Another  inducement  offered  was,  that  the  King  of  Spain 
should  give  him  the  island  of  Sardinia,  in  place  of  his  lost 
kingdom  of  Navarre."*  But  if  this  was  ever  seriously  pro- 
posed, it  certainly  never  took  effect.  Roman  Catholic  writers 
assert,  that  he  was  dissatisfied  with  the  arguments  of  the 
Protestant  ministers  at  Poissy,  and  with  the  differences  of 

1  MS.  Bern.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  490.  =»  Lacratelle,  ii.,  103. 

3  As  in  the  following  passage  :  "Nous  n'estimons  pas  qu'il  y  ait  du  mal 
ou  Dieu  ne  soit  directement  offense;  mais  qu'on  orra  dire  que  vous  faites 
I'amour  aux  dames,  cela  est  pour  deroger  beaucoup  a  votre  autorit6  et 
reputation.  Les  bons  en  seront  offenses,  les  malins  en  seront  leur  ris6e," 
&c.— MS.  VQ.r.,apud  P.  Henr>',  iii.,  49G. 

4  Davila,  i.,  156. 

S 


410  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

opinion  manifested  by  them  on  points  of  faith  and  doc- 
trine.^ There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  foundation  for  this 
assertion,  or  for  thinking  that  his  religious  convictions,  though 
never,  perhaps,  very  strong,  were  actually  shaken ;  for  in 
his  last  moments  he  appears  to  have  given  tokens  of  the 
faith  which  apparently  he  had  abandoned.^  It  is  true,  how- 
ever, that  he  made  the  proceedings  at  Poissy  a  pretext  for 
joining  the  Triumvirate,  and  ascribed  his  conversion  to  the 
eloquence  of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  f  though  probably  his 
real  motive  may  have  been  jealousy  of  his  brother  Conde, 
who  enjoyed  the  headship  of  the  Huguenot  party,  to  which 
Anthony  thought  himself  entitled  by  priority  of  birth  and 
rank.  It  may  be,  too,  that  the  prospect  of  the  throne,  to 
which  the  delicate  health  of  the  royal  children  offered  him 
no  distant  chance  of  succeeding,  had  some  influence  on  his 
conduct ;  as,  in  such  an  event  he  might  have  found  his  re- 
ligious principles  embarrassing. 

The  news  of  Anthony's  apostasy  excited  the  deepest  indig- 
nation at  Geneva.  As  he  had  been  persuaded,  on  his  return 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  to  make  a  solemn  declaration 
at  Rome  against  the  Reformed  faith,  Calvin  reproved  him 
with  freedom  and  severity  in  a  letter,  of  which  the  following 
may  serve  as  a  specimen  :  "  Sire,  if,  in  case  any  poor  man  of 
lowly  condition  pretends  to  consent  that  the  name  of  God 
shall  be  blasphemed,  religion  insulted,  and  the  poor  church 
trodden  under  foot,  he  is  made  to  confess  that  the  word  of 
truth  is  not  in  his  mouth  ;  what  shall  be  done  with  you,  sire, 
who  are  in  such  authority,  honor,  and  station,  if,  flattery 
apart,  you  come  to  reckon  with  Him  from  M'^hom  you  hold 
all  ?  Truly  it  would  be  cowardice  in  me  to  connive  in  silence 
at  that  particular  act  which  hath  engendered  so  much  scandal 
among  people  of  all  conditions  :  I  mean,  sire,  that  unhappy 
harangue  made  on  your  part  at  Rome,  which  makes  those 
good  men  who  have  any  zeal  for  God's  glory,  and  for  your 
majesty's  good  name,  blush,  weep,  groan,  and  almost  burst 
for  grief.  Truly,  sire,  you  can  not  strive  too  much  to  incline 
your  heart  in  a  quite  opposite  direction,  till  so  great  a  fault 
be  expiated  before  God  and  man.  Your  enemies  seem  in- 
clined, by  printing  such  filth,  to  triumph  in  the  odium  you 
have  incurred  by  it.  You  can  not  make  any  acceptable 
oflering  to  God  for  your  absolution.  And  what  would  it 
profit,  though  all  the  world  should  be  given  to  you,  when  you 

^  Davila,  i.,  156.  2  Lacratelle,  ii.,  103. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  40 


MASSACRE  OF  VASSY.  411 

do  homage  to  him  who  has  no  power  but  for  evil  ?"^  The 
Queen  of  Navarre,  however,  always  remained  firm  in  the 
Protestant  faith.  After  the  defection  of  her  husband,  whom 
Beza  branded  with  the  name  of  Julian,  she  retired  into 
Beam,  where  she  brought  up  the  young  prince  her  son,  after- 
ward Henry  IV.,  in  the  Reformed  principles  ;  so  that  Cal- 
vin's influence  may  be  said  to  have  extended  to  him. 

The  publication  of  the  edict  of  January,  and  the  apostasy 
of  the  King  of  Navarre,  served  to  bring  matters  to  a  crisis. 
Conde  had  a  strong  force  at  his  disposal  in  Paris ;  and,  in 
order  to  get  rid  of  him,  Anthony  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
who  was  at  his  seat  at  Joinville,  to  join  him  in  the  metropolis. 
Guise  set  off  with  two  squadrons  of  horse,  and  followed  by 
a  numerous  body  of  dependents.  Unfortunately  his  road  lay 
through  Vassy.  It  was  Sunday,  the  1st  of  March,  and  a 
congregation  of  Protestants,  to  the  number  of  1000  or  1200, 
had  assembled  in  a  barn  outside  the  town,  as  they  were  per- 
mitted to  do  by  the  edict,  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper. 
The  scene  that  ensued  has  been  differently  related.  Roman 
Catholic  writers  affirm  that  some  of  Guise's  soldiers  had 
strayed  to  the  spot  from  curiosity  ;  that  a  tumult  having 
ensued.  Guise,  attracted  thither  by  the  noise,  was  struck  on 
the  cheek  by  a  stone  flung  by  one  of  the  congregation  ;  and 
that  his  followers,  irritated  by  this  insult  to  their  chief,  im- 
mediately fell  upon  the  Huguenots.^  But  the  suspicious  fact 
will  ever  remain,  of  an  armed  body  of  men  coming  into  sud- 
den collision  with  a  defenseless  multitude  engaged  in  their 
devotions,  and  therefore  not  likely  to  have  been  the  aggressors. 
A  dreadful  slaughter  ensued.  Forty-four  persons  were  killed 
outright,  and  one  hundred  and  sixteen  were  wounded,  many 
of  whom  died  of  the  injuries  they  received.  During  this 
carnage,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  stood  outside  the  barn. 
When  it  was  over,  the  duke  brought  him  a  large  book  which 
had  been  found,  and  asked  him  what  it  was.  On  the  cardinal 
replying  that  it  was  the  Bible  :  "  What  I"  cried  Guise,  "  the 
Scriptures?  It  is  1500  years  since  they  were  made;  and 
these  books  were  printed  only  a  year  ago.  Par  la  tnort  Dieu, 
tout  n'en  vaut  rien  .'"^  Guise  sent  for  the  mayor  of  Vassy, 
and  blamed  him  for  allowing  the  Huguenots  to  assemble. 
The  mayor  pleaded  the  edict.  "Detestable  edict  I"  cried  the 
duke,  drawing  his  sword,  "  it  is  with  this  that  I  will  break 

1  MS.  Gen.,  ajpud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  490.     Ruchat.  vii.,  390. 

'  Davila,  i.,  168. 

3  HiU.  des  Eglises  Rif.,  i.,  725. 


412  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

it."^  From  that  moment  the  religious  wars  may  be  said  to 
have  commenced. 

The  Huguenots  convened  a  meeting  to  consider  of  the  con- 
duct of  the  Guises,  the  violation  of  the  edict,  and  the  massa- 
cre of  Vas|y.  Beza  and  another  were  deputed  to  remonstrate 
against  these  proceedings  with  Catherine,  who  was  at  that 
time,  with  the  young  king,  at  Monceaux,  in  La  Brie.  She 
received  them  graciously,  and  said  she  did  not  think  that  the 
Duke  of  Guise  would  persist  in  going  to  Paris.  But  the 
King  of  Navarre,  who  was  present,  flew  into  a  violent  rage, 
and  charged  the  Huguenots  with  going  armed  to  their  con- 
venticles. Beza  replied  that  arms,  in  the  hands  of  the  wise, 
are  guarantees  of  peace,  and  that  the  affair  of  Vassy  showed 
how  necessary  they  were  for  the  church,  unless  other  means 
were  provided  for  its  safety,  to  which  he  humbly  supplicated 
the  attention  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  in  whom  the  church, 
up  to  that  time,  had  reposed  so  much  hope.  The  Cardinal 
of  Ferrara,  the  Pope's  legate,  here  interposed,  and  alluded  to 
the  riot  at  St.  Medard  ;  but  Beza,  who  had  been  an  eye-wit- 
ness of  that  affair,  silenced  him  by  relating  the  real  facts  of 
it.  Beza,  continuing  to  demand  justice  against  Guise,  the 
Kins:  of  Navarre  declared  that  he  should  consider  him  who 
touched  a  finger  of  the  duke's  as  committmg  an  assault  on  his 
own  body.  Nothing  daunted,  however,  Beza  proceeded  with 
his  harangue.  He  represented  that  the  way  of  justice  was 
the  way  of  God ;  that  kings  were  the  debtors  of  their  sub- 
jects, and  that  to  demand  justice  could  not  possibly  be  an  in- 
jury to  any  body  ;  and  as  the  King  of  Navarre  had  excused 
Guise  by  alleging  that  he  could  not  restrain  the  fury  of  his 
people,  when  they  saw  him  attacked  with  stones,  Beza,  after 
representing  that  the  duke  might  have  contented  himself 
with  informing  against  those  who  had  done  so,  concluded 
with  these  words ;  "It  belongs,  indeed,  sire,  to  the  church 
of  God,  in  whose  name  I  speak,  to  endure  blows  and  not  to 
give  them.  But  may  it  please  you  also  to  remember,  that  it 
is  an  anvil  that  has  worn  out  many  a  hammer."  ^ 

In  spite  of  this  bold  speech,  Beza  got  safely  back  to  Paris,  but 
his  situation  there  now  became  exceedingly  critical.  Writing 
to  Martyr,  in  March,  1562,  Calvin  says:  "Through  the  per- 
fidy and  wickedness  of  Julian  (z.  e.,  Anthony),  Beza,  with  many 
others,  was  near  being  dragged  to  execution  lately ;  but  God 

i  Lacratelle,  Guerre!^  de  Rel.,  ii.,  65. 

2  Hist  des  Eglises  Rif.,  ii.,  3.  For  the  original  edition  of  which  wprk 
the  words  just  cited  suggested  a  frontispiece. 


CONDUCT  OF  GUISE.  413 

miraculously  frustrated  this  wicked  attempt.  And  though 
that  apostate  hath  called  the  Guises  to  court,  to  try  the  last 
and  most  desperate  measures,  yet  our  friend  Beza  hopes  that 
these  will  not  only  he  in  vain,  but  that  the  church  will  gain 
such  strength  as  to  prevent  its  enemies  from  attempting  any 
thing  against  it  hereafter.  The  first  conflicts,  however,  will 
be  fearful."  ^  Such  were  the  hcpes  that  animated  the  Cal- 
vinists. 

Although  Catherine  had  written  to  Guise  to  suspend  his 
march  upon  Paris,  he  nevertheless  entered  that  city  at  the 
head  of  his  troops,  on  the  20th  of  March,  accompanied  by  the 
constable,  and  the  Marshal  St.  Andre.  The  Parisian  populace, 
which  had  never  regarded  the  Protestants  with  favor,  received 
him  with  shouts  of  Vive  Guise  f  and  with  every  demonstration 
of  joy.  On  the  same  afternoon  Conde  had  gone  to  a  house 
called  Jerusalem,  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Jaques,  to  hear  a  Hu- 
guenot sermon,  and  in  returning  through  the  city,  followed  by 
700  or  800  horse,  fell  in  with  Guise  and  his  troops.  A  col- 
lision was  expected,  but  the  two  chiefs  saluted  one  another, 
and  passed  on  their  way.^  At  this  critical  juncture,  Conde 
committed  two  irretrievable  errors.  The  first  of  these  was 
his  evacuation  of  Paris,  by  which  he  left  that  important  place 
in  the  possession  of  his  enemies.  The  second  was,  that,  instead 
of  seizing  the  persons  of  the  king  and  of  the  queen-mother,  as 
he  might  have  done,  he  stopped  short  at  Meaux,  and  contented 
himself  with  sending  a  message  to  Catherine,  to  know  her 
pleasure.  Guise's  conduct  was  more  stirring  and  decisive. 
No  sooner  had  Conde  quitted  Paris,  than  he  posted  guards 
at  all  the  gates,  and  began  to  levy  troops  in  the  city.  With 
the  concurrence  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  he  forced  Catherine 
and  the  young  king  to  go  to  Melun,  where  they  were  lodged 
in  the  castle,  which  for  a  century  had  been  used  only  as  a 
prison ;  but  after  a  short  time  they  were  brought  to  Paris. 
The  constable  secured  the  fidelity  of  that  city,  by  deposing  his 
son.  Marshal  Montmorency,  from  the  governorship,  which  he 
intrusted  to  Cardinal  Bourbon.  For  a  few  days  after  Guise's 
occupation  of  Paris,  the  Protestant  worship  was  not  entirely 
suppressed.  But  on  the  5th  of  April  the  constable,  at  the 
head  of  200  men,  and  followed  by  the  mob,  proceeded  to  the 
meeting-house  called  Jerusalem,  near  the  Porte  St.  Jaques, 
where  he  vented  his  fury  by  overthrowing  the  pulpit,  and 
burning  the  benches ;  and  in  the  afternoon  repeated  the  same 
conduct  at  a  house  outside  the  Porte  St.  Antoine.     These  ex- 

1  MS.  Par.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  52G.         «  Hist,  des  Eglises  R6f.,  ii.,  4, 


414  i.iFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ploits,  which  gamed  him  the  nick-name  of  "  Captain  Brule- 
Bancs,''  were  the  signal  for  all  sorts  of  license  on  the  part  of 
the  populace,  who  pillaged  and  murdered  the  unfortunate 
Huguenots  without  mercy. ^ 

Meanwhile  Conde  had  occupied  Orleans.  A  civil  war  was 
now  inevitable,  and  both  parties  prepared  for  it  by  manifestoes 
and  declarations.  On  the  7th  of  April,  Conde  addressed  let- 
ters to  the  different  Huguenot  congregations,  requiring  conti  ibu- 
tions  of  men.  and  money  ;  and  on  the  following  day  published 
a  proclamation,  in  which  he  notified  that  his  only  motive  in 
taking  up  arms  was  to  uphold  the  authority  of  the  king  and 
of  his  edicts,  and  to  restore  him  to  liberty.  Many  of  the  chief 
towns  of  France  declared  for  the  Huguenots,  as  Rouen,  Dieppe, 
Havre  de  Grace,  Angers,  Potiers,  Tours,  Blois,  and  others ; 
and  among  them  the  important  city  of  Lyons ;  an  event  which 
the  preaching  of  Viret  had  been  very  instrumental  in  produc- 
ing.' Conde  wrote  to  the  Genevese  to  request  their  prayers 
for  the  success  of  his  cause ;  and  not  only  were  these  constantly 
offered  up  during  the  continuance  of  the  war,  but  Conde's  camp 
was  plentifully  supplied  with  ministers  from  Geneva. 

Beza  was  the  soul  of  the  Calvinistic  party.  He  caused  a 
synod  to  assemble  at  Orleans  on  the  27th  of  April,  which  was 
attended  by  Conde,  Coligny,  and  other  leaders  of  the  Huguenots. 
For  this  meeting  Calvin  himself  drew  up  a  confession  of  faith, 
to  be  presented,  in  the  name  of  the  French  Reformed  churches, 
to  Charles  V.,  who  was  at  that  time  holding  a  diet  at  Frank- 
fort. At  this  synod  appeared  Calvin's  old  opponent  Bolsec, 
who  had  once  more  taken  it  into  his  head  to  reconcile  himself 
with  the  Reformed  party ;  but  finding  matters  not  quite  so 
tranquil  as  he  expected,  he  again  gave  them  the  slip.^ 

An  attempt  was  made  to  avert  the  impending  war  by  an 
interview  between  the  queen-mother  and  Conde,  in  which  the 
latter  insisted  that  the  edict  of  January  should  be  maintained, 
and  that  Guise,  the  constable,  and  the  Marshal  St,  Andre, 
should  retire  to  their  homes  :  he,  on  his  part,  undertaking  to 
do  the  like,*  But  this  and  other  attempts  proved  abortive. 
On  the  27th  of  June,  Conde  returned  to  the  Huguenot  camp, 
and  prepared  for  the  approaching  struggle. 

It  does  not  belong  to  this  subject  to  detail  the  campaign 
that  ensued.  Three  incidents  chiefly  served  to  bring  it  to  a 
close :  the  death  of  the  King  of  Navarre  from  a  wound  received 
at  the  seige  of  Rouen ;  the  overthrow  and  capture  of  Conde 

I  Hist,  des  Eglises  Rif.,  ii.,  12.  a  P.  Henry,  iii.,  527. 

3  Hist,  des  Eglises  Ref.,  ii.,  34.  *  Ibid,  ii.,  77. 


ASSASSINATION  OF  GUISE.  415 

m  the  battle  of  Dreux,  fought  on  the  19th  of  December,  1562  ; 
and  shortly  afterward,  the  assassination  of  the  Duke  of  Guise 
by  Poltrot. 

On  the  eve  of  the  battle  of  Dreux,  Beza  addressed  and  en- 
couraged the  soldiery ;  and  during  the  actual  conflict  performed 
in  the  first  ranks  all  the  functions  of  an  ensign.^  The  battle 
was  obstinately  contested  for  seven  hours.  The  Marshal  St. 
Andre  was  slain ;  and  Conde  and  Montmorency,  the  generals 
of  either  side,  taken  prisoners.  Misery,  it  is  said,  makes  us 
acquainted  with  strange  bed-fellows.  Conde,  after  his  capture, 
was  led  to  the  quarters  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  in  a  village  near 
the  field  of  battle  ;  and  so  wretched  was  the  accommodation, 
that  these  two  capital  enemies  not  only  dined  at  the  same 
table,  but  shared  the  same  bed :  an  incident  which  reminds 
us  that  the  days  of  chivalry  were  not  yet  wholly  departed. 
Though  the  overthrow  of  the  Huguenots  was  complete,  Coligny 
managed  to  save  the  remnant  of  the  army  by  a  well-conducted 
retreat  upon  Lyons. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  following  year  Guise  laid  siege  to 
Orleans,  into  which  town  D'Andelot  had  thrown  himself,  and 
which  the  admiral  was  marching  to  relieve.  The  war  might 
have  been  protracted  for  some  time  longer,  when  an  unlocked 
for  event  removed  the  only  obstacle  to  a  peace.  Guise,  whom 
the  victory  of  Dreux  had  placed  in  a  position  to  dictate  to  the 
court,  and  who  had  extorted  from  Catherine  the  post  of  com- 
mandant-general of  the  king's  armies,  fell  by  the  hands  of  an 
assassin  on  the  24th  of  February,  1563.  He  had  been  giving 
orders  for  an  assault  on  the  bridge  of  Orleans,  to  be  made  on 
the  following  day,  and  was  returning  to  his  quarters  unarmed., 
when  he  was  shot  in  the  back  by  Poltrot,  a  gentleman  of 
Angoumois.*  He  lingered  for  a  few  days  without  hope  of 
recovery  :  the  wound  Avas  deep,  and  the  balls  poisoned.  On 
his  death-bed  Guise  displayed  all  the  qualities  of  a  hero. 
He  showed  much  anxiety  to  clear  himself  from  the  charge 
of  having  authorized  the  massacre  at  Vassy  ;  and  his  last 
words  were  employed  in  recommending  peace. 

After  the  murder,  Poltrot,  in  the  agitation  natural  to  a 
guilty  conscience,  lost  his  way  ;  and  after  roaming  about  all 
night,  in  the  morning  fell  in  with  some  of  Guise's  troops,  by 
whom  he  was  captured.  On  being  put  to  the  torture,  the 
assassin  confessed  his  guilt;  and  named  several  of  the  Hu- 
guenot party,  particularly  Coligny  and  Beza,  by  whom  he 

i  Schlos.ser,  p.  169.  Calvin  to  BulHnger,  Jan.  16th,  1563,  MS.  Gen.,  apiid 
p.  Henry,  iii.,  533,  2  Davila,  i.,  259. 


416  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

affirmed  that  he  had  heen  incited  to  commit  the  crime.  That 
the  murder  of  Guise  had  been  long  contemplated  by  some  of 
the  Calvininists,  appears  from  a  letter  of  Calvin's  to  the  Duch- 
ess of  Ferrara ;  in  which  he  says  that,  even  before  the  war 
broke  out,  some  resolute  persons  had  determined  on  taking 
the  duke's  life,  and  had  been  diverted  from  their  project  only 
by  his  exhortations.^  Calvin  himself  was  in  the  habit  of 
praying  for  him ;  but  it  was  after  a  singular  fashion.  *'And 
for  myself,"  says  he,  in  the  letter  just  referred  to,  "  though  1 
have  always  besought  God  to  have  mercy  on  him,  yet  at  the 
same  time  I  have  frequently  desired  that  the  Lord  would  lay 
his  hand  upon  him,  and  deliver  his  church  from  him,  if  it 
was  not  his  will  to  convert  him."^  In  his  examination  Pol- 
trot  deposed  that  Beza,  and  another  minister,  had  asked  him 
if  he  was  willing  to  take  up  his  cross,  as  the  Saviour  had 
done  for  us ;  and  told  him  that  he  would  be  the  happiest 
man  in  the  world  if  he  would  carry  out  the  enterprise  which 
the  admiral  had  mentioned  to  him :  for  that  he  would  deliver 
the  world  of  a  tyrant,  and  gain  paradise  by  the  deed.  Beza 
denied  rather  happily  that  he  could  have  used  such  words  : 
saying  that  he  was  not  so  ill  instructed  in  Scripture  as  to 
misapply  it  in  the  way  imputed  to  him ;  and  still  less  to  say 
that  men  gain  paradise  by  their  works.^  He  admits,  how- 
ever, having  desired  the  death  of  Guise,  like  Calvin ;  and  it 
appears  that,  when  Orleans  was  closely  pressed  by  the  duke, 
Beza  said,  in  one  of  his  sermons,  that  he  who  should  kill  him 
in  combat  would  perform  an  heroic  action."*  Considering  the 
many  fanatical  spirits  that  were  then  abroad,  it  may  be  left 
to  casuists  to  decide  how  far  such  indirect  hints  differed  from 
open  exhortations  to  murder.  At  all  events  it  is  certain  that 
the  Calvinists  openly  rejoiced  in  the  act,  as  a  salutary  and 
sacred  one.  They  compared  Poltrot  to  Judith  ;  and  Coligny 
offered  up  a  solemn  thanksgiving  for  Guise's  death,  which  he 
scrupled  not  to  avow  that  he  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest 
blessings  to  the  kingdom,  to  the  church  of  God,  and  particu- 
larly to  himself,  and  to  his  family.^  Such  conduct  and  such 
avowals  are  but  too  striking  instances  of  the  rancor  proverb- 
ially accompanying  religious  animosity  ;  and  they  inspire  still 
deeper  feelings   of  horror  aud  disgust,  when  we  find  them 

*  Ruchat,  vii.,  410, 

^  "  Et  de  moy,  combien  que  j'ay  toujours  prie  Dieu  de  luy  faire  merci,  si 
estce  que  j'ay  souvent  desire  que  Dieu  mit  la  main  sur  luy,  pour  en  de- 
livrer  son  eglise,  s'il  ne  le  vouloit  convertir."— /Z>JtZ. 

3  Hist,  des  Eglises  Rif.,  ii.,  299.  *  Schlosser,  p.  170. 

*  Hist  des  Eglises  Rif.,  ii..  309. 


PEACE  OF  ORLEANS.  417 

justified,  in  cold  blood,  by  such  a  writer  as  Basnage,  from 
the  example  of  the  Prophets  and  early  Christians.^  The  con- 
duct of  the  rough  and  unlettered  Guise  himself  on  a  similar 
occasion,  according  to  an  anecdote  related  of  him  by  Mon- 
taigne, on  the  authority  of  Arayot,  presents  us  with  an  agree- 
able contrast.  During  the  siege  of  Rouen  a  man  was  brought 
to  him  who  had  attempted  his  assassination.  When  Guise 
asked  him  his  motives  lor  the  attempt,  the  man  replied  that 
he  had  been  told  it  would  be  a  work  of  piety.  "  I  will  show 
you,  then,"  cried  the  duke,  "  how  much  gentler  my  religion 
is  than  yoiirs.  Yours  prompts  you  to  kill  me  without  a  hear- 
ing :  mine  commands  me  to  pardon  you,  convicted  as  you  are 
of  having  sought  to  slay  me  without  a  cause." '^ 

But  whatever  share  the  Calvinists  may  have  had  in  the 
assassination  of  Guise — and  we  have  seen  that  they  at  all 
events  desired  it,  and  rejoiced  at  it — the  act  was  in  reality 
as  impolitic,  and  as  injurious  to  their  cause,  as  it  was  detest- 
able in  itself  By  his  death,  Catherine  was  delivered  from  a 
power  she  had  always  dreaded,  and  from  the  necessity  of 
courting  the  opposite  party  in  order  to  counterbalance  it. 
She  now  sought  to  conciliate  her  prisoner  Conde,  who,  weary 
of  his  long  confinement,  and  eager  to  partake  in  the  pleasures 
of  the  court  was  not  backward  in  meeting  her  advances.  It 
is  said  that  she  employed  Baudouin,  the  hated  opponent  of 
Calvin  and  Beza,  to  preach  indifferentism  to  him  f  but 
Cohde's  ambition  was  probably  a  stronger  incentive  to  the 
conduct  he  adopted  than  the  lectures  of  Baudouin.  The 
death  of  his  brother  and  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  opened  out  to 
him  a  fair  prospect  of  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  affairs ; 
and  in  the  absence  of  the  admiral,  and  of  Beza,  Conde  con- 
cluded a  peace  in  which  the  interests  of  the  Huguenots  were 
almost  entirely  neglected.  At  first,  indeed,  he  wished  to 
make  the  edict  of  January  the  basis  of  the  treaty ;  but  the 
constable,  with  whom  he  negotiated  it,  at  once  rejected  the 
proposition.''  The  peace  was  signed  at  Orleans  on  the  12th 
of  March,  1563  ;  and  on  the  19th  of  the  same  month,  ap- 
peared the  edict  of  Amboise,  regulating  the  exercise  of  relig- 
ion among  the  Huguenots.    The  edict  of  January  had  allowed 

'  "  S'il  (Beza)  prioit  afin  que  ce  prince  se  convertit,  ou  que  le  royaume  en 
fut  delivre,  il  avoit  pour  ses  garans,  les  prophetes,  les  premiers  Chretiens, 
et  les  ames  des  martyrs,  qui  sous  I'autel  de  Dieu  demandent :  *  Cluand 
sera-ce  que  tu  vengeras  notre  sang  de  la  main  de  ceux  qui  Font  repanda?'  " 
— Hist,  de  la  Religion  des  Eglises  Ref.,  ii.,  200. 

3  See  Lacratelle.  ii.,  107.  «  P.  Henry,  iii.,  535. 

*  Hist,  des  Eglises  R6f.,  ii.,  273. 


418  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

them  to  assemble  for  worship  in  any  part  of  the  kingdom, 
provided  it  was  outside  of  towns  ;  the  presen-t  one  restricted 
that  privilege  to  those  towns  they  held  possession  of  on  the 
7th  of  March.  It  hkewise  placed  restrictions  on  the  exercise 
of  their  religion  in  rural  districts ;  though,  by  way  of  com 
pensation,  a  town  was  appointed  in  every  bailiwick  depend- 
ing immediately  on  the  parliaments,  outside  of  which  they 
were  allowed  to  hold  their  conventicles.^ 

Coligny  arrived  at  Orleans  on  the  23d  of  March,  after  the 
peace  had  been  concluded.  When  informed  of  its  provisions, 
he  expressed  much  displeasure,  and  pointed  out,  that,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  the  Triumvirate  had  offered  to  adopt 
the  edict  of  January,  provided  that  Paris  were  excepted  from 
its  operation.  He  affirmed  that  more  churches  had  been 
ruined  by  this  single  stroke  of  the  pen,  than  could  have  been 
overthrown  in  ten  years  by  force  of  arms.^  But  the  matter 
was  now  past  remedying. 

The  peace  of  Orleans  put  an  end  to  the  first  civil  war,  and 
Calvin  did -not  live  to  see  the  second.  Beza  now  returned  to 
Geneva,  where  his  presence  was  much  required,  as  the  ill 
state  of  Calvin's  health  prevented  him  from  effectively  dis- 
charging the  extra  duties  which  had  devolved  upon  him.^ 
It  appears  from  an  entry  in  the  Registers  of  Geneva,  on  the 
7th  of  May,  1563,  that  Beza  received  the  public  thanks  of 
the  heads  of  the  Calvinist  party  in  France,  for  his  services  in 
that  country.* 

^  The  edict  will  be  found,  Hist,  des  Eghses  R6f.,  ii.,  p.  283. 
»  Ibid.,  p.  335.  >  Schlosser,  p.  176. 

*  P.  Henry,  iii.,  537. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Controversy  with  Baudouin  —  Tract  against  De  Saconay  —  Answer  to 
Hesshus — Calvin's  last  Illness — Interview  with  the  Council — Exhorta- 
tion to  the  Ministers — His  Death — Will — Beza's  Character  of  Calvin — 
Another  Estimate — His  Literary  Merits — Conclusion. 

The.  two  or  three  last  years  of  Calvin's  life  were  marked  by 
those  theological  controversies  which  had  characterized  his 
literary  career  from  its  beginning.  In  the  preceding  chapter, 
there  was  occasion  to  mention  the  name  of  Baudouin  (Bal- 
duinus)  as  one  of  his  opponents.  The  history  of  Calvin's 
connection  and  dispute  with  that  person  was  as  follows : 

After  the  death  of  his  wife,  Calvin's  house  became  the 
resort  of  several  young  men,  to  whom  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
dictating  his  works  and  letters.  Among  these  was  Francois 
Baudouin,  a  native  of  Arras,  in  whom  Calvin  seems  to  have 
taken  a  peculiar  interest.  He  asked  him  to  his  table,  inter- 
ested himself  in  his  education,  and  admitted  him  to  his  library, 
where  Baudouin  had  free  access  to  all  Calvin's  books  and 
papers.  After  talking  of  a  journey  to  France,  Baudouin  sud- 
denly disappeared  from  Geneva,  and  with  him  some  of  Calvin's 
papers,  which  he  must  have  selected,  in  order  to  use  them  in 
the  attack  which  he  seems  to  have  been  already  meditating. 
They  consisted  of  letters  from  Bucer  to  Calvin,  in  which  the 
latter  was  blamed  in  no  measured  terms.^ 

In  France,  Baudouin,  as  already  related,  ingratiated  him- 
self with  King  Anthony,  and  it  was  by  the  command  of  that 
prince  that  he  went  into  Germany,  in  order  to  consult  with 
Cassander.  The  result  was  his  presenting,  at  the  conference 
of  Poissy,  Cassander's  project  for  a  union.  This  tract  was 
printed  at  Basle,  and  Calvin  immediately  suspected  that  it 
was  the  production  of  Baudouin  himself.  In  a  letter  to  Beza 
at  Poissy,  dated  on  the  10th  of  September,  1561,  Calvin  says : 
"  Snares  are  laid  for  you  to  set  aside  the  discussion  of  the 
business  in  hand,  and  throw  all  into  confusion.     It  is  for  this 

^  P.  Henry,  iii.,  550.  Baudouin  affinned  that  in  one  of  these  letters  Bucer 
had  said  that  Calvin  knew  no  medium  in  his  love  or  hatred.  But  this 
seeiii-i  to  have  been  an  invention  of  Baudouin's,  though  Bucer  undoubtedly 
reproached  Calvin  with  his  morosity. — See  Calvin,  Kesponsio,  &c.,  Opera, 
viii.,  p.  315,  B.,  and  318,  A.,  Amst.  ed. 


420  LIFE  OF  JOHxN  CALVIN. 

purpose  that  little  book  was  published  at  Basle,  of  which  I 
suspect,  nay,  am  almost  certain,  that  Baudouin  is  the  author. 
I  should  like  to  answer  the  scoundrel  as  he  deserves ;  but  I 
am  overwhelmed  with  my  private  correspondence,  and  the 
little  alacrity  that  remained  to  me  is  growing  cold  and  feeble. 
Yet  I  will  do  what  I  can."^  The  result  of  this  resolution 
was,  that  before  the  close  of  the  year  Calvin  published  his 
"Answer  to  a  certain  Trimming  Mediator;"^  a  severe  and 
caustic  attack  upon  Baudouin,  who,  though  he  was  not  named 
in  the  book,  was  clearly  pointed  out  as  Calvin's  former  guest 
and  assistant,  and  characterized  as  a  cheat.  Baudouin  de- 
fended himself  in  the  appendix  to  a  work  entitled  "  A  Com- 
mentary on  the  Laws  respecting  Libel  and  Calumniators ;" 
of  which  he  now  gave  a  new  edition,  and  in  which  Calvin 
was  loaded  with  abuse.  To  this,  Calvin  replied  very  bitterly 
in  his  "Answer  to  the  Reproaches  of  Baudouin,"^  though  it 
must  be  allowed  that  on  this  occasion  such  a  tone  was  more 
than  ordinarily  justified  by  the  conduct  of  his  opponent.  Yet 
he  was  himself  perfectly  aware  that  he  had  exceeded  the 
bounds  of  moderation,  and  in  a  letter  to  Beza  remarks  : 
"Weariness  makes  me  repent  of  the  labor  I  have  undertaken, 
and  in  reading  my  book  you  will  perceive  that  I  have  been 
exacerbated  by  the  indignities  offered  me.  If  I  did  not  already 
compassionate  your  multifarious  occupations,  I  should  like  to 
see  the  beast  depicted  by  your  pencil  also."  ^  Baudouin,  among 
other  things,  had  reproached  Calvin  with  the  death  of  Serve- 
tus,  to  which  he  replies :  "  Perhaps  Castellio  obtained  from 
him,  as  a  pledge  of  friendship,  that  he  should  patronize  the 
cause  of  Servetus.  That  man,  indeed,  suffered  the  penalty 
due  to  his  heresies,  but  was  it  by  my  will  ?  Certainly  his 
arrogance  destroyed  him  not  less  than  his  impiety.  And  what 
crime  was  it  of  mine  if  our  council,  at  my  exhortation,  indeed, 
but  in  conformity  with  the  opinion  of  several  churches,  took 
vengeance  on  his  execrable  blasphemies  ?  Let  Baudouin  abuse 
me  as  long  as  he  will,  provided  that,  by  the  judgment  of 
Melancthon,  posterity  owe  me  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  having 
purged  the  church  of  so  pernicious  a  monster."^  And  a  little 
further  on,  in  answer  to  Baudouin's  taunts,  Calvin  thus  speaks 
of  his  way  of  life  :  "I  will  not  enumerate  the  pleasures,  con- 
veniences, and  riches  I  have  renounced  for  Christ.    I  will  only 

*     1  Ep.  313. 

'■*  Calvini  Respojisio  ad  versipellem  quemdam  Mediatorem ;  and  also  in 
French,  Response  a  un  certain  Moyenneur  rus6. 

3  Johannis  Calvini  Responsio  ad  Baldui7ii  Co7ivicia,  Geneva,  1562. 
*  MS.  Par.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  559.  ^  Responsio,  &o.,  p.  319,  B. 


TRACT  AGAINST  DB  SACONAY.  421 

say  that,  had  I  the  disposition  of  Baudouin,  it  would  not  have 
been  very  difficult  for  me  to  procure  those  things,  which  he 
has  always  sought  in  vain,  and  which  he  now  but  too  greedily 
gloats  upon.  But  let  that  pass.  Content  with  my  humble 
fortune,  my  attention  to  frugality  has  prevented  me  from  being 
a  burden  to  any  body.  I  remain  tranquil  in  my  station ;  and 
have  even  given  up  a  part  of  the  moderate  salary  assigned  to 
me,  instead  of  asking  for  any  increase.  I  devote  all  my  care, 
labor,  and  study,  not  only  to  the  service  of  this  church,  to 
which  I  am  peculiarly  bound,  but  to  the  assistance  of  all  the 
churches,  by  every  means  in  my  power.  I  so  discharge  my 
office  of  a  teacher,  that  no  ambition  may  appear  in  my  extreme 
faithfulness  and  diligence.  I  devour  numerous  griefs,  and  en- 
dure the  rudeness  of  many ;  but  my  liberty  is  uncontrolled  by 
the  power  of  any  man.  I  do  not  indulge  the  great  by  flattery ; 
I  fear  not  to  give  offense  ;  no  prosperity  has  hitherto  inflated 
me  ;  while  I  have  intrepidly  borne  the  many  severe  storms 
by  which  I  have  been  tossed,  till  by  the  singular  mercy  of  God 
I  emerged  from  them.  I  live  affably  with  my  equals,  and 
endeavor  faithfully  to  discharge  my  friendships."  ^ 

Such  was  the  picture  which  Calvin  drew  of  his  own  life, 
many  of  the  particulars  of  which  can  not  be  controverted  ; 
though  it  might,  perhaps,  have  displayed  better  taste  to  have 
left  them  to  be  recounted  by  another.  Baudouin  rejoined  : 
but  Calvin  had  grown  weary  of  the  contest,  and  Beza  now 
continued  it  for  him,  as  Calvin  had  requested  in  the  letter 
before  cited.  Beza's  tract  appeared  at  Geneva  in  1563,  under 
the  title  of  "  The  Answer  of  Th,  Beza  to  the  Book  of  Fr. 
Baudouin,  the  Ecebolian  Apostate."  Beza  gave  him  this 
name  after  Ecebolius,  the  ancient  vicar  of  Bray,  who  changed 
his  faith  with  every  new  emperor  :  no  inappropriate  appella- 
tion if  indeed  Baudouin,  as  is  said,  altered  his  religion  no  fewer 
than  seven  times. ^  This  versatility,  however,  does  not  seem 
to  have  prejudiced  him  in  the  profession  of  the  law.  He 
possessed  great  talent  as  a  jurisconsult,  and  taught  with  much 
applause  at  Bourges,  Strasburgh,  Heidelberg,  and  Douay. 
Though  Calvin  prefixed  a  letter  to  Beza's  Reply,  in  which 
he  declared  that  he  would  take  no  further  part  in  the  dispute, 
yet  Baudouin  was  determined  to  have  the  last  word,  and  pub- 
lished a  rejoinder. 

About  the  same  time  Calvin  wrote  his  "Gratulation  to 
the  Venerable  Priest  Dom.  Gabriel  de  Saconay,  Precentor  of 

^  Responsio,  &c.,  Opera,  viii.,  321,  A. 
^  See  Bn.y\e,  art.  Bnvdouin. 


422  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Lyons."  De  Saconay  had  published  a  new  edition  of  a  part 
of  Henry  VIII. 's  work  against  Luther  on  the  "  Seven  Sacra- 
ments," which  he  accompanied  with  a  vain  and  boastful 
preface,  in  which  he  reflected  upon  the  nocturnal  meetings  of 
the  Huguenots  for  prayer,  and  also  reproached  Beza  with  his 
want  of  chastity.  According  to  Calvin's  account,  the  conduct 
of  De  Saconay  himself  by  no  means  afforded  a  pattern  of  that 
virtue  ;  and  the  way  in  which  Calvin  exposed  his  amorous 
foibles  shows  that  he  was  far  from  deficient  in  wit  and  humor 
when  he  chose  to  exert  them.  A  tone  of  levity  pervades  the 
piece  which  puts  it  almost  on  a  level  with  those  faceticB  of 
Poggio  and  others,  with  which  it  had  been  forbidden  to  defile 
the  ears  of  the  faithful  of  Geneva.  Calvin's  jokes,  however 
are  intermixed  with  some  grim  reproofs ;  and  the  object  of 
his  chastisement  is  plainly  told  that,  had  he  been  one  of  his 
flock,  his  vices  would  long  ago  have  rendered  his  carcase  food 
for  the  crows. ^ 

A  little  before  these  tracts,  which  have  been  mentioned 
first  as  connected  with  the  subject  of  the  preceding  chapter, 
Calvin  had  been  again  plunged  into  a  controversy  with  the 
Lutheran  zealots,  on  the  subject  of  the  eucharist.  After  his 
controversy  with  Westphal,  the  Saxon  clergy,  of  the  faction 
of  Flaccius  Illyricus,  had  even  gone  so  far  as  to  talk  of  excom- 
municating Calvin.^  In  1559,  this  party  procured  from  John 
Frederick,  Elector  of  Saxony,  a  condemnation  of  the  Zwing- 
lian  and  Calvinistic  doctrine  respecting  the  Lord's  Supper,  to 
which,  in  October  of  that  year,  Melancthon  published  an 
answer,  in  which  he  showed  that  the  Calvinistic  theory  could 
be  refuted  neither  from  Scripture,  nor  from  the  most  ancient 
Fathers ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  with  the  timidity  which 
always  characterized  him,  he  did  not  declare  himself  against 
the  Lutheran  view,  but  let  both  remain,  as  if  they  were  not 
repugnant.^  Melancthon's  death,  which  took  place  on  the 
19th  of  April,  1560,  gave  a  new  stimulus  to  the  Flaccian,  or 
bigoted  Lutheran  party,  and  especially  to  those  of  Jena. 
Shortly  after  that  event  they  addressed  a  petition  to  John 
Frederick,  in  which  they  requested  him  to  convoke  a  synod 
for  the  condemnation  of  the  adiaphorists,  the  synergists,  the 
Osiandrists,  and  sacramentaries.  They  demanded  that  none 
should  be  admitted  to  this  synod  who  did  not  belong  to  the 
Confession  of  Augsburg,  and  that  the  Zwinglians  should  not 

^  Gratulatio,  &c.,  Opera,  viii.,  321,  B.,  Amst.  ed. 

2  Calvin  to  Farel,  MS.  Gen.,  apud  P.  Henry,  iii.,  334. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  337,  note. 


ANSWER  TO  HESSHUS.  423 

only  be  excluded  from  it,  but  even  anathematized.^  Mean- 
while Calvin  was  attacked  by  several  of  these,  as  he  was 
wont  to  call  them,  apes  of  Luther.  In  his  tract  against 
Tileman  Hesshus,  he  mentions,  besides  that  person,  Staphylus 
and  Nicholas  Gallus  among  his  assailants.  But  of  these  the 
most  violent,  as  well  as  the  most  able,  was  Hesshus,  a  man 
of  a  turbulent  character,  who  is  said  to  have  been  deposed  no 
fewer  than  seven  times  from  different  offices  that  he  held.^ 
Calvin  doubted  for  some  time  whether  he  should  answer 
Hesshus's  book,  which  appeared  in  1560,  and  of  which  he 
seems  to  have  got  a  copy  from  Bullinger.  Writing  to  Caspar 
Olevianus,  in  November  of  that  year,  Calvin  says  :  "  I  have 
begun,  not  without  some  disgust,  to  run  over  Tileman's  book, 
which  Bullinger  sent  to  me.  The  loquacity  of  that  brawler 
is  too  absurd  to  excite  my  anger,  and  I  have  not  yet  decided 
whether  I  shall  answer  him.  lam  weary  of  so  many  pam- 
phlets, and  shall  certainly  not  think  his  follies  worthy  of  many 
days'  labor.  But  I  have  composed  a  brief  analysis  of  this 
controversy,  which  will,  perhaps,  be  shortly  published."^ 

Calvin,  however,  answered  Plesshus,  and  with  his  usual 
virulence,  which  neither  age  nor  experience  had  moderated. 
At  the  beginning  of  his  tract  Calvin  makes  the  following  ad- 
dress to  Melancthon :  "  O,  Philip  Melancthon  I  for  it  is  to 
thee  I  appeal,  who  now  livest  with  Christ  in  the  bosom  of 
God,  where  thou  waitest  for  us  till  we  be  gathered  with  thee 
to  a  holy  rest.  A  hundred  times  hast  thou  said,  when, 
wearied  with  thy  labors  and  oppressed  by  thy  troubles,  thou 
reposedst  thy  head  familiarly  on  my  breast,  '  Would  that  I 
could  die  in  this  bosom !'  Since  then  I  have  a  thousand 
times  wished  that  it  had  happened  to  us  to  be  together ;  for 
certainly  thou  wouldst  thus  have  had  more  courage  for  the 
contest,  and  been  stronger  to  despise  envy,  and  to  count  as 
nothing  all  false  accusations.  In  this  manner,  too,  the  wick- 
edness of  many  would  have  been  restrained,  who,  from  thy  soft- 
ness, as  they  called  it,  gathered  audacity  for  their  attacks.""* 

In  some  of  his  arguments  in  this  tract,  Calvin  descends  to 
a  species  of  ribaldry,  which,  on  so  sacred  a  subject,  strikes  a 
modern  reader  as  highly  unbecoming.  The  following  is  an 
instance  :  "  All  these  things  we  clearly  testify,  while  Hesshus 
urges  nothing  but  his  mad  dream,  that  the  body  of  Christ  is 

1  Ruchat,  vl.,  336.  2  p.  Henry,  iii.,  339. 

3  Ep.  302.     It  seems  to  me  doubtful  whether  Calvin  had  any  thing  to  do 
with  Ep.  304,  which  turns  on  the  same  subject. 
*  Opera,  viii.,  724,  A. 


424  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

partaken  of  by  the  unfaithful,  and  yet  hath  no  vivifying 
power  I  But  if  he  thinks  that  there  is  no  other  method  but 
philosophy,  let  him  learn  from  a  short  syllogism  : 

"  Whosoever  observes  not  the  analogy  between  the  sign  and 
the  thing  signified,  is  an  unclean  animal,  or  head  of  neat  cattle. 

"  He  who  asserts  that  the  bread  is  truly  and  properly  the 
body  of  Christ,  destroys  the  analogy  between  the  sign  and  the 
thing  signified. 

"  Wherefore,  he  who  asserts  that  the  bread  is  properly  the 
body,  is  an  unclean  animal. 

"  And  from  this  syllogism  let  him  learn,  even  if  there  be  no 
philosophy  in  the  world,  that  still  he  is  an  impure  beast !"  ^ 

In  this  work  Calvin  thus  expresses  his  doctrine  respecting 
participation  in  the  body  of  Christ.  "  Hesshus  objects — If 
the  body  of  Christ  is  in  heaven,  it  is  not  therefore  in  the  sup- 
per, but  only  a  symbol.  As  if,  forsooth,  the  supper  were  not, 
to  the  faithful  worshipers  of  God,  a  heavenly  action,  or,  as  it 
were,  a  vehicle  by  which  they  may  overpass  the  boundaries 
of  the  world.  But  what  is  this  to  Hesshus  ?  who  not  only 
remains  on  earth,  but  drives  his  nose  as  far  as  he  can  into  the 
mud."^ 

We  find,  from  a  passage  in  this  book,  that  Calvin's  follow- 
ers had  now  obtained  the  name  of  Calvinists.^  In  another 
place,  Calvin  piques  himself  on  the  number  of  the  martyrs 
who  had  already  fallen  in  defense  of  his  principles :  "  Because," 
he  says,  "  Hesshus  sees  no  method  of  escape,  he  breaks  out 
into  abuse,  and  makes  me  an  Epicurean.  What  sort  of  dis- 
ciples he  dismisses  from  his  school,  there  is  no  need  to  men- 
tion. Surely  it  is  not  from  the  sty  of  Epicurus  that  those 
men  come  forth  who  fearlessly  offer  up  their  lives  as  a  sacri- 
fice, in  order  that  they  may  sanction  with  their  very  blood 
the  institution  of  the  holy  supper.  Six  hundred  martyrs  will 
stand  before  God  as  advocates  in  the  defense  of  my  doctrine  ; 
and  for  the  same  cause  three  hundred  thousand  men  are  now 
venturing  their  lives.""* 

Calvin  concludes  by  remarking,  that  he  shall  hand  over  his 
opponent  to  Beza  for  the  finishing  stroke.  That  faithful  dis- 
ciple accordingly  published  two  dialogues  in  the  course  of  this 
year,  viz.,  "Kpeox^ayia,  or  the  Cyclops  ;"  and  "  "Ovog  gvXXo- 
yi^ofievog,  or  the  Sophist ;"  the  chief  design  of  which  was  to 
purge  Calvin  from  the  calumnies  with  which  Hesshus  had 
assailed  him. 

^  Opera,  viii.,  p.  728,  A.  2  /^j^,^  p,  739,  3. 

3  Ibid.,  731,  B.  &c.  Ibid.,  p.  742,  B. 


HIS  LAST  ILLNESS.  425 

The  "  Admonition  to  the  Polish  Brethren,"  pubHshed  in 
1563,  which  has  been  rarely  mentioned,  was  among  the  last 
of  Calvin's  works.  His  life  was  now  drawing  to  a  close. 
He  never  thoroughly  recovered  from  the  quartan  ague  with 
which  he  had  been  attacked  in  1558  ;  and  from  that  period 
his  letters  make  constant  mention  of  his  bad  state  of  health. 
Writing  to  Beza  in  October,  1561,  he  describes  himself  as 
suffering  from  a  continual  colic,  accompanied  with  vomit- 
ings, sleeplessness,  loss  of  appetite,  and  so  great  a  dryness  of 
the  throat  and  palate,  as  made  it  difficult  for  him  to  dictate 
even  a  few  words.^  These  gave  way  only  to  be  succeeded  by 
a  headache,  for  which  Calvin's  remedy  was  fasting.  We 
learn,  on  the  authority  of  Beza,  that  for  more  than  ten  years 
he  took  but  one  meal  a  day ;  and  occasionally  he  would  alto- 
gether abstain  from  food  for  the  space  of  six-and-thirty  hours." 
Though,  in  addition  to  these  sufferings,  he  was,  toward  the 
close  of  1561,  tormented  by  the  gout,  so  that  he  could  not 
walk  without  support,  yet  he  did  not  intermit  his  sermons, 
but  was  carried  to  church  in  his  chair.^  His  disorders  went 
on  increasing  in  severity,  till,  in  the  spring  of  1564,  they 
plainly  threatened  a  fatal  termination.  His  letter  to  the  phy- 
sicians of  Montpellier,  on  the  8th  of  February  in  that  year, 
contains  a  catalogue  of  some  of  the  worst  ills  which  can  afflict 
humanity.'*  In  the  summer  of  1563,  he  had  been  attacked 
with  nephritis.  He  went  into  the  country  for  a  cure,  but  was 
obliged  to  be  carried  on  a  couch,  as  he  could  not  sit  on  horse- 
back. On  his  return  to  Geneva  he  got  out  to  walk,  but  had 
scarcely  crept  a  mile,  when  weakness  in  the  loins  compelled 
him  to  desist.  This  was  shortly  afterward  followed  by  the 
discharge  of  a  stone  from  the  bladder.  In  the  same  letter  he 
complains  of  indigestion  and  spitting  of  blood. 

Amid  this  complication  of  painful  disorders,  Calvin's  lit- 
erary industry  did  not  forsake  him.  In  a  letter  to  Fretius, 
dated  on  the  30th  of  November,  1563,  he  describes  himself  as 
engaged  in  translating  his  "Commentary  on  the  Pentateuch" 
into  French ;  and  as  having  also  begun  a  commentary  on 
Joshua,  in  which  he  had  proceeded  as  far  as  the  third  chap- 
ter.^    This  work  he  finished  on  his  death-bed. 

On  the  6th  of  February,  1564,  Calvin  preached  his  last  ser- 
mon.    Although  an  asthma  now  prevented  him  from  deliver- 

1  Ep.  323. 

2  Beza,  Viia  Calv.,  auno  1564,  from  which  the  following  account  of  Cal- 
vin's last  days  is  chiefly  taken.  3  Epp.  324,  325. 

*  Ep.  343.  ^  Ep.  342. 


426  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ing  any  continued  discourse,  he  was  still  carried  occasionally 
to  church,  and  would  now  and  then  address  a  few  words  to 
the  congregation ;  but  after  March  he  was  obliged  to  abstain 
even  from  this.^  All  these  ills  he  is  represented  as  sustaining 
with  the  greatest  fortitude  and  resignation.  No  complaints 
escaped  his  lips,  except  that  sometimes,  raising  his  eyes  to 
heaven,  he  would  exclaim  :  "  How  long,  O  Lord  I"  He  fol- 
lowed the  prescriptions  of  his  physicians  most  implicitly ;  but 
he  would  not  attend  to  any  admonitions  that  he  should  relin- 
quish his  labors.  When  Beza  attempted  to  persuade  him 
to  give  up  dictating,  or,  at  all  events,  writing,  he  replied  : 
"  What  I  would  you  have  the  Lord  find  me  idle  ?"  The 
members  of  the  consistory  visited  him  on  the  10  th  of  March, 
and  found  him  dressed,  and  sitting  at  a  little  table,  on  which 
he  was  accustomed  to  write.  When  Calvin  perceived  them, 
he  leaned  his  head  on  one  of  his  hands,  as  he  was  accustomed 
to  do  when  meditating ;  and  after  a  short  silence,  with  a  broken 
voice,  but  with  a  cheerful  countenance,  he  said  :  "  I  thank  you 
most  heartily,  my  dearest  brethren,  for  your  care  of  me,  and  I 
hope  that  in  a  fortnight — which  was  the  usual  time  for  con- 
sistorial  censures — I  shall  be  among  you  for  the  last  time, 
For  I  think  about  that  time  the  Lord  will  reveal  his  will  con- 
cerning me,  and  will  take  me  to  himself"  He  accordingly 
appeared  in  the  consistory  on  the  24th  of  March ;  and  after 
the  sitting  was  over,  observed,  that  he  thought  the  Lord  had 
granted  him  some  delay.  He  then  took  up  a  French  New 
Testament,  and  consulted  those  present  on  some  passages. 
On  the  following  day  he  felt  the  worse  for  this  exertion.  Nev- 
ertheless, on  the  27th  of  March,  he  caused  himself  to  be  car- 
ried to  the  council-house,  and,  with  the  support  of  two  friends, 
walked  into  the  hall,  where  a  new  rector  of  the  schools  was 
to  be  presented  to  the  council.  Here,  having  bared  his  head, 
he  returned  thanks  for  the  favors  which  he  had  received  at 
the  hands  of  the  council,  and  that  especially,  in  this  his  last 
illness,  they  had  shown  him  such  marked  attention.  On  the 
10th  of  March,  the  council  had  ordered  every  one  to  pray  for 
Calvin's  restoration ;  and  on  the  13th  of  the  same  month, 
sent  him  twenty-five  crowns  through  his  brother ;  which, 
however,  Calvin  refused  to  accept :  alleging  that  as  he  was 
not  in  a  condition  to  discharge  his  duties,  he  made  it  a  point 
of  conscience  not  to  receive  wages. ^  On  taking  leave  of  the 
council,  he  observed :  "  I  feel  this  is  the  last  time  that  I  shall 

^  Beza,  Viia  Calv.,  anno  1564. 

2  See  Registers.     Grenus,  Fragmens  Biographiques. 


INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  COUNCIL.  427 

appear  in  this  place  ;"  and  after  pronouncing  these  few  words 
with  a  faltering  accent,  bade  farewell  to  all  the  members,  who 
were  overcome  with  grief.  On  the  2d  of  April,  being  Easter 
day,  he  was  carried  to  church ;  where  he  remained  during 
the  sermon,  and  afterward  received  the  sacrament  from  the 
hands  of  Beza.  He  even  joined  in  the  hymn  ;  and  though  his 
voice  was  tremulous,  his  countenance,  already  touched  by  the 
hand  of  death,  gave  manifest  tokens  of  joy  and  satisfaction. 
On  the  25th  of  April  he  made  his  last  will ;  after  which  he 
sent  to  the  syndics  and  council  to  intimate  that  he  was  desir- 
ous of  once  more  addressing  them  in  the  council-house  before 
he  died,  and  hoped  that  he  should  be  well  enough  to  be  car- 
ried thither  on  the  morrow.  Hereupon  the  council  replied, 
that  they  would  come  to  him  instead  ;  and  accordingly  re- 
paired to  his  house  on  the  26th  of  April. ^ 

After  mutual  salutations,  and  apologies  on  the  part  of  Cal- 
vin to  the  council,  for  giving  them  the  trouble  of  coming  to  his 
house,  he  observed  that  he  had  long  desired  this  interview,  but 
had  put  it  off  till  the  hour  of  his  departure  from  the  world 
became  more  apparent.  "  I  thank  your  excellencies  most 
heartily,"  he  continued,  *'  for  the  honors  with  which  you  have 
loaded  me,  and  which  I  have  done  little  to  deserve,  as  well  as 
for  your  having  often  borne  with  my  infirmities  so  patiently ; 
which  I  have  always  considered  the  greatest  proof  of  your  sin- 
gular good- will  toward  me.  Although  in  the  discharge  of  my 
office  I  have  had  to  endure  many  contests,  and  to  sustain  all 
kinds  of  attacks — for  such  must  be  the  fate  of  the  best  of  men 
— yet  I  know  and  acknowledge,  that  it  has  not  been  through 
any  fault  of  yours.  And  I  earnestly  entreat  you  that,  if  at 
any  time  I  have  failed  in  my  duty,  you  will  have  regard  to 
my  will  rather  than  to  my  power.  For  I  can  truly  declare, 
that  I  have  been  a  sincere  well-wisher  to  your  state ;  and 
though  I  may  not  have  always  succeeded  in  discharging  all 
that  my  duty  required  of  me,  yet,  as  far  as  lay  in  my  power, 
I  have  ever  studied  the  public  good.  At  the  same  time,  I 
should  hardly  escape  the  charge  of  dissimulation,  did  I  not 
express  my  conviction  that  the  Lord  hath  been  pleased  some- 
times to  employ  my  services  with  efiect.  Still  I  must  again 
and  again  beg  of  you  to  excuse  me,  that  either  in  my  public- 
or  private  capacity,  I  have  performed  so  little  of  what  I  ought 

1  Scott  remarks  [Cont.  of  Milner,  in.,  479,  note)  that  modern  authors, 
feeling  at  a  loss  how  to  accommodate  the  whole  senate,  consisting  of  sixty 
or  seventy  persons,  in  a  room  of  Calvin's  house,  have  restricted  the  attend- 
ance to  that  of  the  four  syndics.  But  we  have  seen  that  the  little  or  ordinary 
council  consisted  of  only  twenty-five  members. 


428  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

to  have  done.  I  have  also  to  acknowledge  myself  much  in- 
debted to  you  for  the  patience  with  which  you  have  borne  my 
vehemence,  and  which  has  sometimes,  I  confess  it,  been  im- 
moderate ;  which  sins  of  mine  are,  I  trust,  also  pardoned  by 
God.  With  regard  to  the  doctrine  which  you  have  heard 
from  my  lips,  I  do  here  affirm,  that  I  have  taught  the  word 
of  God  with  which  I  was  intrusted,  not  vaguely  and  rashly, 
but  purely  and  sincerely :  whose  anger  would  otherwise,  I 
know,  as  surely  impend  over  my  head  at  this  moment,  as  I 
am  confident  that  my  labors  in  teaching  have  not  been  dis- 
pleasing to  him.  And  this  I  am  the  more  inclined  to  testify 
before  God  and  you,  because  I  doubt  not  that  Satan,  as  is  his 
custom,  will  stir  up  wicked,  light,  and  giddy  men,  to  corrupt 
the  pure  doctrine  which  you  have  heard  from  me." 

Then,  after  adverting  to  the  great  benefits  which  they  had 
received  at  the  hands  of  God,  he  continued  :  "I  am  the  best 
judge  from  how  many  and  what  exceeding  great  dangers  the 
hand  of  an  almighty  and  merciful  God  hath  delivered  you. 
Consider  the  station  which  you  now  hold,  and  whether  your 
affairs  be  prosperous  or  adverse,  let  it  be  ever  before  your  eyes 
that  it  is  he  alone  who  strengthens  cities  and  states,  and  who 
in  that  respect  demands  the  worship  of  mankind.  Bear  in 
mind  that  David,  amid  all  his  greatness,  testifies  to  us  that 
he  fell  when  he  thought  himself  most  secure,  and  indeed  never 
to  rise  again,  had  not  God,  with  wonderful  goodness,  stretched 
forth  his  hand  to  him.  What,  then,  shall  become  of  us  puny 
men,  when  he  fell  who  was  so  powerful  and  so  strong  ?  Truly, 
great  humility  is  needful  for  you,  that  you  may  walk  carefully, 
reverencing  God,  and  trusting  to  his  safeguard  alone,  in  the 
confident  hope  that  with  his  help  you  will  stand  firm,  as  in- 
deed you  have  often  experienced,  though  your  safety  and  pres- 
ervation should  depend  as  it  were  upon  a  single  thread.  If, 
then,  your  affairs  be  prosperous,  be  not  puffed  up  like  the  pro- 
fane, but  rather  give  thanks  to  God  with  an  humble  heart ; 
if,  on  the  contrary,  adversity  should  threaten  you,  and  even 
destruction  surround  you  on  every  side,  yet  still  put  your  trust 
in  him  who  is  able  to  raise  even  the  dead ;  yea,  rather  think 
that  God  thus  awakens  you,  in  order  that  you  may  learn 
more  and  more  to  look  toward  him  alone.  And  if  you  wish 
this  republic  to  remain  stable,  look  again  and  again  that  the 
sacred  judgment-seat  on  which  he  hath  placed  you  be  not  de- 
filed. For  he  alone  is  the  great  God,  King  of  kings,  and  Lord 
of  lords  ;  who  will  honor  them  who  honor  him,  and  cast  down 
his  contemners  into  the  dust.     Worship  him,  therefore,  ac- 


INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  COUiNCIL.  429 

cording  to  his  precepts,  and  ponder  these  things  ever  more  and 
more ;  for  we  are  always  far  enough  from  performing  what 
our  duty  requires.  I  know  your  minds  and  characters,  and 
that  you  all  stand  in  need  of  exhortation.  Even  among  those 
who  excel,  there  is  none  in  whom  much  is  not  wanting.  Let 
every  one,  then,  examine  himself,  and  ask  the  Lord  for  those 
things  in  which  he  finds  himself  deficient.  We  see  what  vices 
reign  in  most  of  the  councils  of  the  world.  Some  are  luke- 
warm, and  neglect  the  public  good  to  follow  their  own  inter- 
ests ;  some  indulge  their  private  passions ;  some  use  not  the 
excellent  gifts  with  which  God  hath  endowed  them,  in  a  fit- 
ting manner :  others  are  ostentatious,  and  with  a  certain  con- 
fidence, require  that  the  rest  should  conform  to  their  opinions. 
I  exhort  the  aged  not  to  envy  younger  men,  whom  they  may 
see  that  the  Lord  hath  adorned  with  gifts ;  and  the  young 
that  they  be  modest,  and  free  from  all  elation.  Let  not  one 
interfere  with  another.  Avoid  enmities,  and  all  those  private 
grudges  and  animosities  which  have  averted  many  from  the 
true  course  in  governing  a  state. .  These  things  you  will  avoid, 
if  each  of  you  confine  himself  to  his  own  province,  and  faith- 
fully administer  that  department  of  the  government  with  which 
he  is  intrusted.  In  deciding  civil  causes,  let  nothing,  I  beseech 
you,  be  done  out  of  private  favor  or  enmity.  Let  none  per- 
vert justice  by  covert  practices,  nor  hinder  the  due  course  of 
law  by  partiality:  in  a  word,  let  none  depart  from  what  is 
just  and  right.  Should  any  sinister  affection  tempt  any  of 
you,  let  him  constantly  resist  it,  and  looking  up  to  Him  who 
placed  him  on  the  bench,  pray  for  his  Holy  Spirit.  I  have 
now  done,  except  that  I  must  again  request  your  pardon  for 
my  infirmities,  which  I  here  confess  and  acknowledge,  before 
God  and  his  angels,  as  well  as  before  your  excellencies." 

Such,  according  to  Beza,  was  the  speech  which  Calvin  ad- 
dressed to  the  members  of  the  council  on  this  occasion.  Some 
allowances  should,  perhaps,  be  made  for  a  little  rhetorical 
exaggeration  on  the  part  of  that  writer  ;  for  it  is  hardly  prob- 
able that  Calvin,  who  now  found  it  painful  to  dictate  even  a 
few  words,  should  have  had  strength  to  deliver  so  long  an 
oration.  Nevertheless,  we  may  assume  that  the  substance 
and  tenor  of  his  address  are  faithfully  reported  ;  and  they  show 
what  an  authority  he  exercised  over  the  members  of  the  coun- 
cil, and  with  what  reverence  they  looked  up  to  him  as  their 
spiritual  father.  After  he  had  finished  his  speech  Calvin  ad- 
dressed a  prayer  to  God  to  fill  them  more  and  more  with  His 
gifts,  and  to  govern  them  by  His  Holy  Spirit  for  the  safety  of 


430  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

the  whole  republic.  Then,  shaking  hands  with  each  member, 
he  dismissed  them  ;  who  departed  from  him,  says  Beza,  with 
tears,  as  from  their  common  parent. 

At  Calvin's  request  all  the  Genevese  ministers  assembled  at 
his  house  on  the  28th  of  April,  when  he  thus  addressed  them  : 
*'  After  my  death,  persevere,  brethren,  in  this  work,  and  be 
not  cast  down ;  for  the  Lord  will  preserve  this  state  and 
church  against  the  threats  of  their  enemies.  Let  all  dissen- 
sions be  banished  from  among  you,  and  embrace  one  another 
with  mutual  charity.  Think  continually  on  what  you  ov.e 
this  church,  in  which  God  hath  placed  you,  and  suffer  nothing 
to  withdraw  you  from  it.  Otherwise  it  were  easy  for  some 
who  are  weary  of  it  to  slip  out ;  but  such  will  discover  that  it 
is  impossible  to  deceive  the  Lord.  When  I  first  came  to  this 
city  the  gospel  had,  indeed,  been  announced  ;  but  things  were 
in  a  most  unsettled  state,  as  if,  forsooth,  Christianity  had 
wholly  consisted  in  the  overthrow  of  idolatry  ;  and  many  were 
the  wicked  from  whom  I  suffered  the  most  unworthy  treat- 
ment. But  the  Lord  our  God  strengthened  me,  who  am  by 
nature  any  thing  but  bold — I  state  the  matter  as  it  really  is — 
so  that  I  yielded  to  none  of  their  attempts.  Afterward  I  re- 
turned hither  from  Strasburgh,  having  undertaken  the  vocation 
most  unwillingly,  for  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  would  be  fruitless. 
The  work  appeared  to  be  full  of  great  and  manifold  difficul- 
ties, and  I  knew  not  what  the  Lord  had  determined ;  but  as 
I  proceeded  I  perceived  that  the  Lord  had  really  blessed  my 
labors.  Do  ye,  therefore,  persevere  in  the  same  vocation ; 
uphold  the  discipline  that  has  been  established,  and  take  care 
at  the  same  time  that  the  people  be  retained  in  obedience  to 
the  doctrine ;  for  there  are  some  wicked  and  contumacious 
ones  among  them.  I  leave  things  in  no  bad  state  ;  wherefore 
you  will  be  the  more  culpable  in  the  sight  of  God  if,  through 
your  remissness,  they  should  be  overthrown.  I  declare  to  you, 
my  brethren,  that  I  have  always  lived  with  you,  and  now  de- 
part from  you,  in  the  bonds  of  the  truest  and  most  sincere 
charity ;  but  if  ever  during  this  my  illness  you  should  have 
found  me  too  morose,  I  ask  your  pardon,  and  return  you  my 
hearty  thanks  for  having  borne  my  burthen  when  I  was  sick." 
With  these  words  he  shook  hands  with  all  the  ministers,  who 
departed  from  him  with  sad  feelings  and  moistened  eyes. 

Viret  was  at  too  great  a  distance  to  attend  Calvin's  death- 
bed ;  but  on  the  2d  of  May  he  received  a  letter  from  Farel, 
who,  in  spite  of  his  age  and  infirm  health,  announced  his  in- 
tention of  comino-  to  take  leave  of  him.     The  short  letter  in 


CALVIN'S  DEATH.  431 

which  Calvin  dissuaded  him  from  this  design  seems  to  have 
been  the  last  which  he  ever  wrote.  It  is  the  following : 
"  Farewell,  my  best  and  truest  brother  !  and  since  it  is  God's 
will  that  you  remain  behind  me  in  the  world,  live  mindful  of 
our  friendship  :  which,  as.  it  was  useful  to  the  church  of  God, 
so  the  fruit  of  it  awaits  us  in  heaven.  Pray  do  not  fatigue 
yourself  on  my  account.  It  is  with  difficulty  I  draw  my 
breath,  and  expect  that  every  moment  will  be  my  last.  It  is 
enough  that  I  live  and  die  for  Christ,  who  is  the  reward  of 
his  followers  both  in  life  and  death.  Again,  farewell  with  my 
brethren.  Geneva,  2d  of  May,  1564."  Nevertheless,  Farel 
persisted  in  his  resolution,  and,  after  an  interview  with  Cal- 
vin, returned  to  Neufchatel  on  the  next  day.  In  August  of 
the  following  year,  Farel  himself  sank  into  the  grave,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  seventy-six.^ 

The  days  that  remained  to  him  Calvin  spent  in  almost  con- 
tinual prayer,  and  in  ejaculating  sentences  from  the  Scrip 
tures ;  and  though  his  voice  was  broken  by  asthma,  his  eyes 
retained  their  brightness  to  the  last.  During  this  time,  if  all 
who  wished  to  see  him  had  been  admitted,  his  doors  must  have 
been  kept  constantly  open  both  day  and  night ;  but,  as  he  felt 
a  difficulty  in  speaking,  he  requested  that  people  would  rather 
pray  for  him  than  endeavor  to  visit  him.  He  even  told  Beza, 
whom  he  always  saw  with  pleasure,  that  he  felt  a  scruple  in 
being  a  hindrance,  however  shght,  to  his  usual  occupations. 
So  chary  was  he,  says  Beza,  of  the  time  which  he  knew  was 
spent  in  the  service  of  the  church,  and  even  over-scrupulous 
of  being  ever  so  little  a  burden  to  his  friends.  Thus  he  lin- 
gered on  till  the  19th  of  May;  on  which  day  the  Genevese 
ministers  were  accustomed  to  meet  in  consistory  for  censures, 
and  afterward  to  dine  together ;  as  there  would  be  a  com- 
munion at  Pentecost,  which  happened  two  days  after.  On 
this  occasion  Calvin  allowed  the  dinner  to  be  held  at  his 
house,  and  even  caused  himself  to  be  carried  into  the  dinner- 
room  from  his  bed-chamber,  which  adjoined.  Here  addressing 
the  company  he  said :  *'  This  is  the  last  time  I  shall  meet  you 
at  table  :"  words  which  made  a  sad  impression  on  them.  He 
then  offered  up  a  prayer  and  took  a  little  food ;  during  dinner 
discoursing  as  cheerfully  as  might  be  under  the  circumstances. 
Before  the  repast  was  quite  finished  Calvin  caused  himself  to 
be  carried  back  to  his  bed-room  ;  and  on  taking  leave,  said, 
with  a  smiling  countenance  :  "  This  wall  will  not  hinder  my 
being  present  with  you  in  mind,  though  absent  in  body." 
>  Kirchhofer,  Lebeti  Fay-els,  ii.,  165. 


432  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

From  that  time  he  never  rose  from  his  bed.  On  the  27th 
of  May,  the  day  on  which  he  died,  he  seemed  to  speak  with 
less  difficulty  ;  but  this  was  a  last  effort  of  expiring  nature. 
About  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  manifest  signs  of  approach- 
ing dissolution  appeared.  Beza  had  not  long  quitted  him ; 
but  though  he  immediately  returned  on  being  apprized  of  the 
change,  it  was  too  late.  He  found  Calvin  dead,  apparently 
without  a  struggle,  as  he  rather  bore  the  appearance  of  having 
fallen  into  a  deep  sleep. 

On  that  night  and  the  following  day,  says  Beza,  Geneva 
seemed  plunged  in  universal  mourning.  The  state  had  to 
regret  the  loss  of  one  of  its  wisest  citizens ;  the  church  its 
pastor  ;  the  academy  its  teacher  ;  while  private  persons  felt 
as  if  deprived  of  a  common  parent  and  comforter.  Many 
of  the  citizens,  and  even  several  foreigners,  among  whom  was 
the  Queen  of  England's  embassador  to  France,  desired  to  view 
his  body.  At  first  they  were  admitted ;  but  as  this  might 
have  appeared  too  great  an  indulgence  of  the  public  curiosity, 
his  friends,  in  order  to  avoid  calumny,  caused  his  remains  to 
be  inclosed  early  on  the  following  day,  which  was  Sunday,  in 
a  coffin  :  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  body,  followed 
by  the  council,  the  ministers,  the  professors  of  the  college,  and 
great  numbers  of  the  citizens,  who  showed  every  mark  of  grief, 
was  carried  to  the  cemetery  of  Plainpalais  ;  where  it  was  in- 
terred, by  Calvin's  own  directions,  without  any  extraordinary 
pomp,  and  without  so  much  as  a  stone  to  mark  the  place  where 
it  lay.  Beza,  however,  honored  his  memory  with  the  follow- 
ing copy  of  Latin  verses,  which  he  calls  Parentalia : 

"  Romae  mentis  terror  ille  maximus, 
duem  mortuum  lugent  boni,  horrescunt  mali, 
Ipsa  a  quo  potuit  virtutem  discere  Virtus — 
Car  adeo  exiguo  ignotoque  in  cespite  claasus 
Calvinus  lateat  rogas  ? 
•  Calvinum  assidue  comitata  Modestia  vivum 

Hoc  tumulo  manibus  condidit  ipsa  suis. 
O  te  beatum  cespitem  tanto  hospite ! 
O  cui  invidere  cuncta  possint  marmora !" 

On  the  8th  of  June  all  the  ministers  and  professors  appeared 
before  the  council  and  represented  that  Calvin  had  made  them 
some  excellent  exhortations  to  concord  among  themselves,  and 
obedience  to  the  magistrates  ;  the  observance  of  which,  they 
said,  was  the  only  method  to  avoid  feeling,  so  sharply  as  they 
had  hitherto  done,  the  loss  of  that  great  servant  of  God.  The 
council  replied  that  they  still  much  regretted  the  loss  of  that 


HIS  WILL.  433 

great  man,  on  whom  God  had  bestowed  such  excellent  gifts, 
and  impressed  a  character  of  so  much  majesty.' 

Calvin's  will,  which,  as  we  have  said,  was  made  on  the 
25th  of  April,  begins  with  a  long  preamble,  in  which  he 
gives  thanks  to  God  for  having  rescued  him  from  idolatry, 
and  made  him  a  minister  of  the  gospel ;  and  expresses  a  sense 
of  his  own  sinfulness  and  unworthiness,  and  of  the  coldness  of 
his  zeal :  in  which  last  self-accusation,  however,  neither  his 
friends  nor  his  enemies  will  be  ready  to  agree.  The  whole 
value  of  his  estate,  after  making  as  good  an  estimate  as  he 
could  of  his  furniture  and  library,  amounted  only  to  255  gold 
crowns.  He  constituted  his  brother  Anthony  his  nominal 
heir,  in  trust  for  his  own  children ;  requesting  Anthony  him- 
self to  be  satisfied  with  a  silver  salver.  Samuel  and  John, 
his  brother's  sons,  were  to  receive,  after  their  father's  death, 
40  gold  crowns  each ;  his  daughters,  Ann,  Susan,  and  Dorothy, 
30  gold  crowns  each ;  and  to  his  other  nephew,  David,  he  left 
only  25,  "  on  account  of  his  levity  and  petulance."  He  gave 
ten  gold  crowns  to  the  schools ;  the  same  sum  to  the  hospital 
for  poor  refugees ;  and  another  ten  to  the  daughter  of  Charles 
Constans,  a  cousin.  If  his  estate  showed  any  surplus  it  was 
to  be  distributed  in  the  same  rateable  proportion  between  his 
nephews  and  nieces;  not  excluding  David,  "  if  by  the  blessing 
of  God  he  should  amend  his  conduct."  He  appointed  his 
brother  and  Laurence  Normandie  his  executors.  The  will  is 
witnessed  by  the  following  persons  :  Theodore  de  Beze,  Ray- 
mond Chauvet,  Michael  Cop,  Louis  Enoch,  Nicholas  Colladon, 
Jaques  des  Bordes,  and  Henry  Scrimger,  professor  of  arts,  all 
citizens  of  Geneva.^ 

It  might  seem  an  injustice  toward  Calvin's  character,  if 
Beza's  ample  and  labored  account,  or  rather  panegyric  of  it, 
were  not  inserted  here.  From  a  long  and  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  him,  Beza  had  better  opportunities  than  almost 
any  other  person  of  becoming  acquainted  with  his  virtues  and 
his  failings.  At  the  same  time  we  must  remember  that  he 
owed  all  that  he  was  to  Calvin,  to  whom  during  his  lifetime 
he  displayed  the  greatest  devotion,  not  to  say  subserviency, 
taking  up  his  quarrels  as  if  they  were  his  own,  and  sparing 
no  personal  exertions  in  the  pursuit  of  them  ;  that  after 
Calvin's  death  he  succeeded  to  his  post  of  chief  niinister  at 
Geneva ;  and  that  he  had  thus  every  motive,  both  of  public 

1  Registers.     Grenns,  Fragviens  Bio graphiques. 

2  The  will  is  given  at  length  in  Beza's  Life  of  Calvin,  and  in  P.  Henry, 
iii,  Beil.  15. 

T 


434  ^  LIFE  QF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

interest  and  private  affection,  to  represent  the  bright  side  of 
his  teacher's  character. 

"  Calvin,"  says  Beza,  "  was  of  middUng-  stature,  of  a  pale 
and  dark  complexion  ;  his  eyes,  which  betokened  the  sagacity 
of  his  intellect,  retained  their  brilliancy  to  the  last.  In  con- 
formity with  his  singular  modesty,  he  observed  in  his  dress  a 
just  medium  between  over-nicety  and  slovenliness ;  in  like 
manner  with  regard  to  his  diet,  as  he  was  far  removed  from 
luxury,  so  on  the  other  hand  his  frugality  was  decent.  He 
ate  but  little,  and  for  many  years  together  took  but  one  meal 
a  day,  alleging  his  bad  digestion.  He  gave  but  little  time  to 
sleep.  His  memory  was  almost  incredible,  insomuch  that  he 
would  immediately  recognize  persons  w^hom  he  had  seen  but 
once,  and  that  many  years  previously.  When  employed  in 
dictating,  he  could  resume  the  thread  of  his  discourse  without 
being  prompted,  after  having  been  interrupted  for  several 
hours  ;  and  though  overwhelmed  with  business,  he  never 
forgot  any  thing  appertaining  to  his  office.  His  judgment 
was  so  exact,  that  it  oflen  bore  the  appearance  of  prophecy  ; 
nor  do  I  remember  an  instance  of  any  one  having  been  misled 
who  followed  his  advice.  He  was  sparing  of  his  words,  and 
despised  what  is  called  eloquence.  Yet  he  was  any  thing  but 
an  unskillful  writer  ;  and  though  his  works  are  more  volumin- 
ous than  those  of  any  author  in  the  memory  of  ourselves  or 
of  our  fathers,  yet  no  theologian  has  yet  existed  whose  style  is 
characterized  by  greater  purity,  force,  and  judgment.  His 
youthful  studies,  and  a  natural  acuteness  of  intellect,  strength- 
ened by  the  habit  of  dictating,  made  him  never  at  a  loss  for 
weighty  and  apposite  language,  and  he  wrote  very  much  as 
he  spoke.  Retaining  to  the  last  the  doctrine  which  he  had 
taught  in  his  youth,  he  had  no  retractations  to  make ;  a  thing 
that  can  b&  affirmed  of  but  few  theologians  of  our  age. 

"  Though  naturally  grave,  yet  in  society  nobody  was  more 
cheerful.  He  was  very  tolerant  of  those  vices  which  spring 
from  the  natural  inffi-mity  of  men ;  so  that  he  neither  shamed 
nor  frightened  the  weaker  brethren  by  importunate  reprehen- 
sion, nor  on  the  other  hand  nourished  their  faults  by  conniv- 
ance or  flattery.  He  was  as  great  an  enemy  of  adulation, 
pretense,  and  dishonesty,  particularly  where  religion  was  con- 
cerned, as  he  was  a  sincere  friend  of  truth,  simplicity,  and 
candor.  From  temperament  he  was  somewhat  prone  to  anger, 
a  failing  which  was  increased  by  the  laborious  life  he  led.  Yet 
the  spirit  of  God  had  taught  him  so  to  govern  his  wrath,  that 
no  expression  unwortiiy  of  a  good  man  ever  fell  from  his  lips ; 


BEZA'S  CHARACTER  OF  HIM.  435 

and  much  less  did  he  proceed  to  greater  extremities :  nol 
indeed  was  he  easily  excited  to  anger,  except  when  religion 
was  in  question,  or  when  he  had  to  deal  with  the  obstinate. 

"  That  so  many  virtues,  both  public  and  privat.e,  should 
have  so  numerous  enemies,  will  surprise  no  one  who  has  read 
the  history  of  those  men  who,  even  among  heathen  nations, 
have  been  eminent  for  their  love  of  what  seemed  to  them  to 
be  virtue :  far  less,  then,  should  it  excite  our  wonder  that  so 
unflinching  an  asserter  of  the  sound  doctrine,  so  constant  a 
follower  of  purity  of  life,  should  have  been  so  rancorously 
opposed  both  at  home  and  abroad.  We  should  rather  be 
astonished  how  one  man  was  able,  like  a  sort  of  Christian 
Hercules,  to  overcome  so  many  monsters  by  the  use  of  that 
strong  club,  the  word  of  God.  The  numerous  adversaries 
raised  up  against  him  by  Satan — among  whom  were  none 
but  those  who  had  also  declared  war  against  religion  and 
probity — were  but  so  many  trophies  of  victory  which  the 
Lord  granted  to  his  servant.  By  them  Calvin  was  painted 
as  a  heretic  ;  as  if,  forsooth,  Christ  himself  had  not  been  re- 
proached with  the  same  appellation,  and  that,  too,  by  the 
priests.  It  is  true  that  the  Genevese  banished  him  ;  but  they 
also  recalled  him  ;  and  what  was  the  fate  of  the  Apostles,  of 
Athanasius,  of  Chrysostom  ? 

"  Many  other  reproaches  are  heaped  upon  him,  but  of  what 
kind  ?  He  was  ambitious,  forsooth ;  nay,  he  even  aimed  at 
establishing  a  new  papacy:  this  is  the  charge  brought  against 
a  man  who  preferred  this  method  of  life,  this  republic,  in  a 
word,  this  church,  which  I  may  truly  call  the  very  workshop 
of  poverty,  before  every  thing  else  I  Or  is  he  charged  with 
avarice  ?  When  all  his  goods,  his  library  included,  which 
fetched  a  good  price,  scarcely  amounted  to  three  hundred  gold 
crowns.  So  that  he  himself  spoke  no  less  truly  than  appropri- 
ately when,  in  refuting  this  most  shameful  calumny,  he  ob- 
served :  '  If  I  can  not  persuade  certain  persons  during  my  life- 
time that  I  am  no  lover  of  money,  at  least  it  will  be  proved 
at  my  death.'  The  council  can  testify  that  though  his  sti- 
pend was  very  slender,  he  was  so  far  from  being  discontented 
with  it  that  he  pertinaciously  refused  any  increase. 

"  Others  reproach  him  with  his  brother  Anthony's  getting 
divorced  from  his  first  wife,  on  account  of  adultery.  But 
what  would  they  have  said,  had  he  continued  to  cherish  an 
adulteress  ?  And  if  the  disgrace  of  this  shameless  woman  is 
to  fall  upon  him,  what  will  become  of  Jacob,  of  David,  nay, 
of  the  very  family  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  himself  plainly 


43)  LIFE  OF  JOHN  OALVIN. 

noted  one  of  them  as  devil  ?  The  many  proofs  he  has  left  of 
his  labors  show  how  much  he  indulged  in  luxury  and  pleasure. 
Some  scruple  not  to  affirm,  and  even  to  write,  that  he  reigned 
supreme  at  Geneva,  both  in  church  and  state,  and  even  sat 
in  the  juclgment-seat.  Others  have  a  story  how  he  got  a  liv- 
ing man  to  represent  a  corpse,  in  order  to  raise  him  from  the 
dead :  which  is  as  rank  a  falsehood  as  to  call  him  the  Pope  of 
Rome,  as  that  rhapsodist  of  the  Sorbonne,  Claude  Despence, 
dared  to  give  out  in  a  most  calumnious  book.  But  what  can 
shame  such  men  ?  Charges  like  these  stand  in  no  need  of 
refutation  either  with  those  who  knew  this  great  man  when 
living,  or  with  that  judicious  portion  of  posterity  that  shall 
estimate  his  character  by  his  writings. 

"  Having  here  faithfully  recorded  the  history  of  his  earthly 
career,  of  which  I  have  been  an  eye-witness  lor  the  space  of 
sixteen  years,  I  think  myself  well  entitled  to  affirm,  that  in 
him  was  proposed  for  the  imitation  of  us  all  a  most  beautiful 
example  of  a  truly  Christian  life  and  death ;  and  one  which 
it  may  be  as  easy  to  calumniate  as  it  would  be  difficult  to 
follow." 

Beza,  in  his  French  Life,  adds  a  few  other  particulars  of 
Calvin's  habits.  His  weak  digestion,  and  want  of  appetite, 
caused  him  to  seek  something  more  delicate  than  the  ordinary 
fare  which  appeared  at  table.  Sometimes  in  the  middle  of 
the  day  he  would  suck  an  egg  and  take  a  glass  of  wine.  He 
would  occasionally  join  his  intimate  friends  in  a  game  of 
quoits,  or  la  clef,  or  some  other  pastime  not  forbidden  by  the 
laws.  But  this  occurred  very  seldom ;  for  he  was  generally 
occupied  the  whole  day  in  writing  or  studying  :  except  that, 
after  dinner,  he  would  walk  about  his  room  for  a  quarter  of 
an  hour,  or  perhaps  half  an  hour,  if  he  had  any  body  to  keep 
him  company.^ 

That  Calvin  was  in  some  respects  a  really  great  man,  and 
that  the  eloquent  panegyric  of  his  friend  and  disciple  Beza 
contains  much  that  is  true,  will  hardly  be  denied.  In  any 
circumstances,  his  wonderful  abilities  and  extensive  learning 
would  have  made  him  a  shining  light  among  the  doctors  of 
the  Reformation ;  an  accidental,  or,  as  his  friends  and  follow- 
ers would  say,  a  providential  and  predestinated  visit  to  Gen- 
eva, made  him  the  head  of  a  numerous  and  powerful  sect. 
Naturally  deficient  in  that  courage  which  forms  so  prominent 
a  trait  in  Luther's  character,  and  which  prompted  him  to 
beard  kings  and  emperors  face  to  face,  Calvin  arrived  at  Gen- 

^    Vie  de  Calv.,  p.  145,  et  seq..  Geneve,  I660. 


BEZA'S  CHARACrER  OF  HIM.  437 

eva  at  a  time  when  the  rough  and  initiatory  work  of  Reform 
had  ah'eady  been  accompHshed  by  his  bolder  and  more  active 
friend  Farel.  Some  peculiar  circumstances  in  the  political 
condition  of  that  place  favored  the  views  which  he  seems  to 
have  formed  very  shortly  after  his  arrival.  By  the  extent  of 
its  territory,  and  the  number  of  its  population,  a  small  city ; 
by  its  natural  and  artificial  strength,  and  by  its  Swiss  alli- 
ances, an  independent  state,  secure  from  the  attacks  of  its 
powerful  neighbors  :  by  its  laws  and  institutions  a  republic 
tending  toward  an  oligarchy ;  and  by  the  enthusiasm  of  a  new 
religion,  which  had  helped  to  establish  its  civil  liberties,  dis- 
posed to  bow  its  neck  to  the  yoke  of  the  gospel ;  Geneva  offer-  \ 
ed  every  facility  to  a  master  mind  like  Calvin's,  which  had 
conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  a  theocracy,  of  which  he 
himself  was  to  be  the  oracle,  the  prophet,  and  the  dictator  ; 
and  from  which,  as  from  a  common  center,  his  peculiar  opin- 
ions were  to  spread  in  successive  and  still  expanding  circles 
through  the  rest  of  Europe.  The  tact  and  skill,  the  fortitude, 
the  consistency  of  purpose,  and  energy  of  will,  which  he  dis- 
played in  carrying  out  his  design,  are  worthy  of  all  admira- 
tion. Attacked,  menaced,  banished,  he  carries  with  him  and 
elaborates  his  favorite  scheme.  In  the  years  of  his  exile  his 
eye  still  reverts  to  the  little  Goshen  which  he  had  marked  out 
for  his  experiment.  His  addresses  to  the  Genevese  church 
are  still  those  of  a  pastor  to  his  congregation  ;  he  still  throws 
his  shield  over  them,  to  protect  them  from  the  insidious  attacks 
of  Rome.  The  anticipated  hour  of  recall  arrives.  It  is  now 
Calvin's  turn  to  make  conditions.  Geneva  wooes  him  back ; 
but  the  insulted  pastor  is  not  to  be  so  lightly  won.  He  professes 
repugnance  to  return  to  a  city  which  his  own  writings  show 
to  have  been  the  incessant  object  of  his  thoughts.  At  last 
he  consents;  but  the  return  which  he  concedes  as  a  favor 
strengthens  his  hands  to  carry  out  his  views.  The  preceding 
narrative  has  already  shown  how,  from  that  time  to  the  hour 
of  his  death,  his  care  and  labor  were  constantly  directed  to 
the  consolidation  of  his  power,  and  to  the  development  of  his 
scheme  of  ecclesiastical  polity.  In  these  objects  he  was  so 
successful  that  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  none  of  the  Re- 
formers, not  even  Luther  himself,  attained  to  so  absolute  and 
extensive  an  influence. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  preceding  sketch  presents  us  with 
the  lineaments  of  a  successful  political  chief,  as  much  as  with  t 
those  of  the  founder  of  a  great  religious  sect ;  and  it  may  be 
inquired  whether  we  should  consider  Calvin's  aims  to  have 


438  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

been  directed  by  personal  ambition,  or  by  zeal  for  God's  honor 
and  glory.  Two  objects  so  different  seem  utterly  incompatible 
We  can  not  serve  both  God  and  Mammon ;  we  can  not  seek 
at  once  to  promote  our  own  aggrandizement  and  that  of  God's 
kingdom.  That,  in  order  to  be  acceptable  to  the  Divine  Being, 
the  feeling  of  religion  must  be  pure  and  unmixed,  can  not  for 
a  moment  be  questioned ;  yet  the  heart  of  man  is  a  complicated 
piece  of  mechanism,  and  the  results  which  it  shows  are  seldom 
the  effect  of  unmixed  motives.  Many  are  the  hidden  springs 
and  wheels — hidden,  very  frequently,  even  from  ourselves — 
which  by  their  combined  movements  contribute  to  regulate 
our  conduct.  That  a  man  who  devoted  himself  so  ardently 
to  the  study  of  divinity  as  Calvin  did,  and  who  labored  with 
such  industry  and  warmth  to  defend  and  propagate  the  Ref- 
ormation, should  have  been  influenced  solely  by  the  hope  of 
attaining  reputation  and  power  by  these  means,  is  scarcely 
credible  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  parts  of  his  con- 
duct which  it  would  be  difficult  to  refer  to  purely  religious 
motives,  xin  irritable  pride  is  one  of  the  salient  traits  of  his 
character.  Of  this  the  preceding  narrative  has  recorded  many 
striking  instances.  This  feeling  particularly  betrayed  itself 
where  Calvin's  literary  reputation,  or  his  authority  as  a  teacher, 
was  concerned ;  for  these  were  the  instruments  of  his  power 
and  influence.  He  loved  Castellio  till  their  views  began  to 
clash,  and  then  he  pursued  him  with  the  most  unrelenting 
malignity.  Though  acquainted  with  the  views  of  Socinus 
and  the  other  Italian  Antitrinitarians,  he  tolerated  those  her- 
etics so  long  as  they  flattered  him ;  but  when  he  discovered 
that  this  flattery  was  a  mere  cloak  and  pretense,  his  indigna- 
tion knew  no  bounds.  Nay,  he  even  endured  and  corre- 
sponded with  Servetus,  the  arch-heretic  of  them  all,  till  he 
found  himself  ridiculed  and  abused  by  the  Spaniard,  and  then 
he  formed  the  resolution  of  putting  him  to  death ;  a  design 
which  he  cherished  for  seven  years,  and  which  he  effected  the 
moment  it  was  in  his  power  to  do  so :  and  that  in  spite  of  the 
mild  and  tolerant  principles  which  his  understanding,  when 
calm  and  unruffled,  had  led  him  deliberately  to  lay  down. 
Other  instances  of  the  same  feeling,  but  exercised  on  a  minor 
scale,  and  on  more  ignoble  victims,  will  occur  to  the  reader, 
and  especially  the  case  of  Pierre  Ameaux.  But  though  on  a 
minor  scale  they  do  not  the  less,  but  rather  more  clearly,  be- 
f  tray  the  dominant  passion.  Beza  admits  Calvin's  proneness 
to  anger,  which,  however,  is  sometimes  more  correctly  char- 
acterized by  Calvin  himself  by  the  name  of  morosity.     And 


HIS  LITERARY  MERITS.  439 

indeed  not  only  the  preceding  instati;'es  of  his  conduct,  but  the 
spirit  and  tenor  of  the  greater  part  of  his  controversial  tracts, 
show  that  a  man  may  be  a  profound  theologian,  and  yet  not 
comprehend  the  true  spirit  of  Christianity. 

That  Calvin's  mode  of  life  was  frugal  and  temperate,  and 
that  he  was  untainted  with  the  mean  passion  of  avarice,  may 
be  readily  admitted.  The  last,  indeed,  is  peculiarly  the  vice  of' 
little  minds  ;  and  it  may  be  safely  affirmed,  that  no  man  of 
really  enlarged  understanding,  and  commanding  genius,  ever 
loved  money  merely  for  its  own  sake.  Calvin's  ambition  was 
of  a  different  kind.  He  rather  sought  to  leave  his  name  and 
principles  to  posterity,  than  a  few  thousand  dollars,  more  or 
less,  to  his  heirs. 

Beza's  remarks  on  Calvin's  intellectual  qualities  will  admit 
of  no  dispute.  On  this  ground  both  his  friends  and  opponents 
are  agreed ;  and  in  the  writings  of  the  latter  will  be  found 
many  tributes  to  his  genius  and  learning.  The  president  De 
Thou  characterizes  him  as  endowed  with  a  strong  and  acute 
•understanding,  and  with  admirable  powers  of  expression.^ 
Davila  says  of  him  that  he  was  a  man  of  great,  but  restless, 
mind,  of  wonderful  eloquence,  and  of  extensive  and  varied 
erudition.^  And  Florimond  de  Remond,  in  his  "  History  of 
the  Birth,  Progress,  and  Decline  of  this  Century,"  observes : 
"  Calvin  showed  from  his  youth  that  he  was  not  carried  away 
by  sensual  pleasures.  In  a  dry  and  attenuated  body  he  pre- 
served a  green  and  vigorous  mind,  prompt  at  repartee,  and 
bold  in  attack.  He  fasted  much  even  in  his  youth,  either  for 
the  sake  of  his  health  and  to  get  rid  of  the  headache  which 
continually  afflicted  him,  or  to  keep  his  mind  in  better  order 
ibr  writing  and  studying,  and  to  improve  his  memory."^ 

Calvin's  style,  both  in  Latin  and  French,  is  remarkable  for 
force,  clearness,  and  facility.  Like  all  men  of  truly  deep 
thought,  he  never  leaves  his  reader  at  a  loss  for  his  meaning. 
It  is  only  the  pretenders  to  profundity  who  puzzle  by  reflections 
which  they  have  not  the  power  to  develop  clearly  in  their  own 
minds.  His  Latin  style  is  not  marked  by  unnecessary  verbiage, 
merely  for  the  sake  of  rounding  a  period,  nor  by  any  affectation 
of  Ciceronian  purity,  the  besetting  snare  of  the  writers  of  that 
age  :  and  if  it  be  truly  remarked  that  the  best  test  of  modern 
Latin  is  that  it  should  be  read  with  facihty  and  pleasure  by 

1  "  Acri  vir  ac  vehementi  ingenio,  et  admirabili  facundi<l  praeditus."— 
Hist.,  lib.  xxxvi.,  anno  1564.  , 

2  "Uomo  di  grande,  ma  d'inquieto  ingegno,  di  maravigliosa  facondia,  e  di 
varia  e  moltiplice  erudizione." — Guerre  Civ.  di  Francia,  lib.  i.^  p.  59. 

2  Liv.  vii.,  e.  10,  quoted  by  P.  Henry,  i.,  Beil.  19, 


440  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

a  scholar,  Calvin's  may  be  pronounced  excellent.  There  is 
hardly,  perhaps,  a  sentence  in  his  works  that  requires  to  be 
read  twice  in  order  to  be  understood.  The  admirable  way  in 
which  he  used  his  mother  tongue  is  best  testified  by  his  coun- 
trymen. Pasquier  remarks  that  he  had  enriched  the  French 
language  with  numberless  beautiful  turns.^  The  Abbe  d'Ar- 
tigny  observes  that  he  knew  the  turn  and  genius  of  the  French 
tongue  better  than  any  man  of  his  age.^  And  Bossuet  draws 
the  following  parallel  between  him  and  Luther :  "  Let  us 
then  yield  to  Calvin,  since  he  is  so  desirous  of  it,  the  glory 
of  having  written  as  well  as  any  man  of  his  age  ;  nay,  let  us 
even  place  him,  if  you  will,  above  Luther :  for  though  Luther 
had  a  more  lively  and  original  turn  of  mind,  Calvin,  though 
inferior  in  genius,  seemed  to  carry  off  the  palm  by  study.  In 
oral  discourse  Luther  triumphed ;  but  Calvin's  pen  was  more 
correct,  especially  in  Latin,  and  his  style,  which  was  more 
severe,  was  also  more  connected  and  refined.  Both  excelled 
in  speaking  their  native  tongue,  and  both  possessed  an  extra- 
ordinary vehemence."^  To  these  testimonies  might  be  added 
that  of  D'Alembert,  and  other  more  modern  writers. 

Calvin  was  a  fair  Greek  scholar ;  though  in  this  branch 
of  learning  he  was  undoubtedly  surpassed  by  some  of  his  con- 
temporaries. His  knowledge  of  Hebrew  is  said  to  have  been 
only  moderate.* 

The  merits  of  Calvin  as  a  commentator  have  been  universal- 
ly recognized  ;  even  by  those  opposed  to  some  of  his  peculiar 
views.  On  this  subject  Father  Simon  says  :  "  Calvin  had  a 
very  elevated  mind  ;  and  had  he  been  less  obstinate,  and  not 
engrossed  by  the  desire  of  making  himself  the  head  of  a  party, 
his  labors  might  have  been  useful  to  the  church.  There  is 
in  his  '  Commentaries  on  Scripture'  something  which  at  once 
pleases  us  ;  and  as  he  had  devoted  much  time  to  the  study  of 
mankind,  his  works  abound  with  a  touching  morality,  which 
he  also  endeavors  to  render  just  and  conformable  to  his  text."  ^ 
Bishop  Horsley,  and  other  divines  of  the  English  church,  have 
also  cheerfully  acknowledged  Calvin's  merits  in  this  depart- 
ment of  sacred  literature  ;    the  magnitude  of  his  labors  in 

1  "Car  aussi  etoit  il  homme  bien  escrivant  tant  en  Latin  que  Francois, 
et  auquel  nostre  langue  Fran(jaise  est  grandement  redevable  pour  1' avoir 
enrichie  d'une  infinite  de  beaux  traits  :  et  a  la  mienne  volonte  que  c'eust 
ete  en  meilleur  subject." — Recherches  de  la  France,  lib.  viii.,  c.  Iv.,  p.  858. 

2  Nouveaux  Memoires,  &c.,  ii.,  71. 

3  Hist,  des  Variations,  &c.,  ix.,  319. 

4  See  Schrokh,  Reform.  Geschichte,  ii.,  205,  and  the  Scaligeriana  prima, 
quoted  by  P.  Henry,  i.,  Beil.  18. 

5  Hist.  Critiq^ie  du  Vieiix  Test.,  quoted  by  P.  Henry,  i.,  Beil.  19. 


CONCLUSION.  441 

which  may  be  estimated  from  the  fact  of  their  filling  seven 
out  of  the  nine  folio  volumes  which  constitute  his  works. 

In  his  "  Commentaries,"  the  peculiar  doctrines  which  marlc 
his  system  of  theology  occur,  of  course,  in  a  scattered  manner, 
as  the  occasion  of  his  text  may  call  them  forth.  But  before 
he  had  commenced  any  of  his  exegetical  works,  of  which  that 
on  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  published  in  1539,  was  the 
first,  he  had  already  arranged  his  scheme  of  divinity,  and  pub- 
lished the  results  of  it  in  his  **  Institutes."  This  work  bears 
the  impress  of  an  independent  and  comprehensive  study  of 
Scripture  ;  from  which,  aided  by  the  works  of  the  Fathers, 
and  especially  of  St.  Augustin,  Calvin  built  up  his  system ; 
which  deserves  the  praise  of  originality  rather  for  the  coherence 
and  symmetry  with  which  it  is  arranged,  and  which  show  it 
to  be  the  work  of  a  single  mind,  than  for  any  novelty  in  the 
views  which  it  develops.  The  doctrine  of  predestination,* 
which  is  generally  regarded  as  that  which  principally  charac- 
terizes Calvin,  is  in  fact  that  of  St.  Augustin,  and  even  of 
most  of  the  Reformers,  though  they  did  not  carry  it  to  such 
a  rigorous  extent  as  he.  Probably  his  best  claim  to  originality, 
with  regard  to  any  single  part  of  his  doctrine,  rests  on  that  of 
the  Lord's  Supper. 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  represent  the  life  of  Calvin  im- 
partially, neither  concealing  his  virtues  nor  exaggerating  his 
faults.  The  terms  of  unqualified  and  extravagant  admiration 
in  w^hich  some  of  his  recent  biographers  speak  of  him,  seem 
to  me  to  be  neither  consistent  with  facts,  nor  of  wholesome 
example.  This  unbounded  veneration  for  remarkable  men — 
this  hero-worship — is  a  sign  rather  of  weakness  than  of 
strength.  A  mind  that  suffers  itself  to  be  dazzled  by  some 
brilliant  qualities,  is  unable  to  take  that  steady  view  which  is 
necessary  to  the  just  estimation  of  a  character  ;  and  in  view- 
ing the  leaders  of  great  rehgious  movements,  this  seems  to  mc 
to  be  particularly  dangerous.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  days 
of  persecution  and  intolerance  are  gone,  never  to  return  ;  but 
if  ever  they  are  to  be  revived,  it  is  such  a  spirit  that  will  lead 
to  them.  A  lapse  of  three  centuries  has  afforded  time  enough 
to  mellow  opinions  ;  and  this  should  be  essentially  the  age  of 
impartiality  and  moderation. 


APPENDIX. 


I. 

The  fullest  account  of  Servetus  will  be  found  in  Mosheim's 
^^  Geschichte  des  beruhmten  Spanischen  Artzes  M.  ServetOj^^  forming 
the  second  volume  of  his  ^'  Ketzer-Geschichte,^^  4to,  Helmstadt,  1748. 
Mosheim  had  long  been  collecting  materials  for  a  life  of  Servetus,  but 
not  finding  leisure  or  opportunity  to  use  them,  intrusted  them  to  M. 
Allvoerden,  who  had  been  his  pupil,  and  who  was  desirous  of  trying 
his  skill  on  some  historical  subject.  Allvoerden's  w^ork,  which  was 
not  a  masterpiece,  was  severely  handled  by  Armand  de  la  Chapelle, 
the  pastor  of  the  French  congregation  at  the  Hague,  in  a  periodical 
publication  entitled  "  Bibliotheque  Raisonnee  des  Ouvrages  des  Savans 
de  P Europe,''''  vol.  i.  This  induced  Mosheim  to  write  his  book,  which 
he  drew  up  with  the  greatest  care,  from  the  materials  which  he  then 
possessed,  and  which  consisted  chiefly  of  the  proces  of  Servetus  at 
Geneva.  The  recent  publication  of  the  original  documents  by  M. 
Rilliet  {Relation  du  Proces  Criminel  intente  a  Geneve  a  M.  Servet, 
Geneve,  1844)  shows  that  the  extracts  used  by  Mosheim  were  au- 
thentic. (See  P.  Henry,  iii.,  102.)  Shortly  afterward,  Mosheim  ob- 
tained some  fresh  materials  in  an  abstract  from  the  trial  of  Servetus  at 
Vienne,  furnished  to  him  by  a  French  ecclesiastic.  The  additional 
information  thus  conveyed,  and  which  led  him,  in  some  cases,  to  modify 
and  alter  his  views,  he  published  in  his  "  iVewe  Nachrichten,^^  Helm- 
stadt, 4to,  1750.  This  tract  is  appended  to  his  "  Geschichte.'^  The 
Abbe  d'Artigny  had  also  obtained  the  same  materials  from  Vienne, 
and  published  them,  before  Mosheim's  second  work  appeared,  in  the 
"  Nouveaux  Memoires  d^Histoire,  de  Critique,  et  de  Literature,''''  tom.  ii., 
1 749.  The  Abbe,  however,  frequently  draws  on  his  imagination,  and 
states  circumstances  as  facts,  which  are  not  borne  out  by  the  evidence. 
Besides  these  works,  the  reader  may  consult  the  "  Bibliotheque  An- 
glaise,''^  tom.  ii. ;  the  account  of  Servetus  in  Chauffepied's  "Dictionary; 
and  particularly  Trechsel's  "  Antitrinitarier,^^  b.  i. ;  and  Dr.  Henry's 
"  Leben  Calvins,''''  b.  iii.  These  documents  and  authorities  are  often 
at  variance.  In  the  account  in  the  text,  I  have  selected  the  circum- 
stances which  seemed  most  probable. 


APPENDIX.  443 

II. 

Calvin's  letter  to  Frellon.  (See  the  Appendix  to  Mosheim's  "  Neue 
Nachrichten.'''') 

Seigneur  Jehan, 
Pourceque  vos  lettres  dernieres  me  furent  apportees  sur  men  parte- 
ment  je  n'eus  pas  le  loisir  de  faire  reiT<3nse  a  ce  qui  estoit  enclos 
dedans.  Depuis  men  retour,  an  premier  loisir  que  j'ay  eu,  j'ay  bien 
voulu  satisfaire  a  votre  dcsir,  non  po^  que  j'aye  grand  espoir  de  profiter 
gueres  envers  un  tel  homme,  sefon  que  je  le  vois  dispose  :  raais  afin 
d'essayer  encore  s'il  y  aura  quelque  moyen  de  le  reduire,  qui  sera 
quand  Dieu  aura  si  bien  besongne  en  luy,  qu'il  devienne  tout  aultre. 
Pourcequ'il  m'avoit  e-scrit,  d'un  ton  si  superbe,  je  luy  ay  bien  voulu 
rabattre  un  petit  de  son  orgueil,  parlant  a  luy  plus  durement  que  ma 
coutume  ne  porte.  Mais  je  ne  I'ay  pu  faire  aultrement.  Car  je  vous 
asseure  qu'il  n'y  a  lepon  qui  luy  soit  plus  necessaire  que  d'apprendre 
humilite.  Mais  nous  y  devons  aussi  tenir  la  main.  Si  Dieu  nous 
faict  cette  grace  a  luy  et  a  nous  que  la  presente  response  luy  profite, 
j'auray  de  quoi  me  rejouir.  S'il  poursuit  d'un  tel  style  comme  il  a 
faict  maintenant,  vous  perdrez  temps  a  me  plus  soUiciter  a  travailler 
envers  luy,  car  j'ay  d'aultres  affaires  qui  me  pressent  de  plus  pres. 
Et  ferois  conscience  de  m'y  plus  occuper,  ne  doubtant  pas  que  ce  ne 
fust  un  Sathan  pour  me  distraire  des  aultres  lectures  plus  utiles.  Et 
pourtant  je  vous  prye  de  vous  contenter  de  ce  que  j'en  ay  faict,  si  vous 
n'y  voyez  meilleur  ordre.  Sur  quoi  apres  m'estre  de  bon  coBur  re- 
commande  a  vous,  je  prye  nostre  bon  Dieu  vous  avoir  en  sa  garde. 

Votre  serviteur  et  entier  amy, 

Charles  D'Espeville. 
Ce  13  Fivrier,  1546. 

A  Sire  Jehan  Frellon,  Marchand  Libraire,  demeurant  a  Lyon,  en  la 
rue  Merciere,  Enseigne  de  I'Escu  de  Coulogne. 

III. 

As  Calvin's  letter  to  Farel  mentioned  in  the  text  is  not  inserted  in 
the  ordinary  collections  of  his  correspondence,  it  is  reprinted  here 
from  P.  Henry,  iii.,  Beilagen,  p.  65.  It  will  also  be  found  in  Audin, 
Vie  de  Calvin^  ii.  314,  note. 

CALVINUS  FARELLO. 
De  fratribus  quieto  nunc  animo  eris  post  acceptas  Claudii  literas. 
Nuncius  qui  attulerat,  cum  a  concione  redirem  post  horam  nonam, 
rogavit  an  mere  essent  paratae.  Negavi :  sed  jussi  ut  domi  raese 
pranderet  cum  uxore  (eram  enim  ipse  invitatus  a  Macrino)  ;  statim  a 
prandio  adfuturum  me  promisi,  ut  paucis  responderem.  Non  venit  : 
sed  momento  se  proripuit,  ut  stuperem  tam  subito  discessu.  Et 
tamen  visus  mihi  fuerat  juvenis  alioqui  non  malus.  Utinam  cogitent 
fratres,  sibi  omnes  difficultates  ita  expediri  Dei  raanu,  quo  citius 
festinent.     Non  oportuit  cessare  Israelitas,  cum  patefactus  illis  esset 


444  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

exitus,  quin  mox  ad   fugam  se  accingerent.     Hoc  fuisset  epistolas 
arguraentum.  nisi  me  nuncius  fefellisset,  verum  ultro  eos  ardere  con- 
fido.      Nunc   venio   ad  vestra  certamina.      Si   quid  adiiuc   molestise 
vobis  improbi  facessant  cum  istse  literse  venient,  breviter  complexus 
sum  quaenam  agendi  ratio  niihi  placeat.     Velim  autera  primura  agi 
viva  voce :  deinde,  hoc   scriptura   aut   simile   tradi.     Ridebitis   forte 
quod  nihil  nisi  vulgare  proferara :   cum  a  me  reconditum  aliquid  et 
sublime  expectaveritis.     At  ego  me  vestra  opinione  obstringi   nolo, 
neque  etiam  ajquum  est.      Malui  tamen  ineptus  esse  ita  scribendo 
quam  tacendo  coramittere  ut  prtoes  vestras  a  me  neglectas  putarelis. 
Si  rationibus  et  hac  legitima  via  nihil  fuerit  effectum,  clam  apud 
Bernates  agendum  erit  ne  feram  illam  ex  cavea  emittant.     De  fcsdere 
non  satis  assequor  mentem  tuam :  nisi  qaod  suspicor,  quo  Bernates 
auxilio  vobis  sint,  te  ad  aliquam  conjunctionem  animum  adjicere :  ut 
quemadmodum  jure  civitatis  libertatem  populi  tuentur,  ita  honesto 
aliquo  titulo  tueantur  ministros  in  officio  suo.     Si  id  est  non  improbo  : 
modo  memineritis  ad  hsec  extraordinaria  remedia  tunc  demum  esse 
confugiendum,  ubi  ultimse  necessitatis  est  excusatio,     Deinde  ut  omnes 
cautiones  adhibeatis,  ne  quid  in  posterum  vobis  noceat,  serael  fuisse 
adjutos :    ac    pactionis    nunc    transactae    magis   vos    poeniteat,   quam 
pristinae    servitutis.       Marcurtius    certe   jam    locum    sibi   despondit. 
Fratrum  enim  consensum  nihil  se  morari  prsedicat,  quia  a  magistratu 
et  populo  expetitur,  nee  fremere  in  te  dubitat.     Denique  cum  ante 
tempus  malitiam  animi  sui  prodat,  machinis  omnibus  repellendus  est, 
ne  emergat  in  locum  unde  efficere  quod  minatur  possit.     De  iis  qui 
sub  prsesidii  specie  perpetuam  dominationis  sedera  figere  hie  volebant, 
rumores   sinaraus  in  utramque  partem  vagari.     Civiliter  et  placide 
occursum  est  eorum  impudentiae,  ita  ut  eos  sui  pigere  debeat.     Spero 
quieturos.       Nostris    quantum   possum    suadeo    ut   securi   dormiant. 
Servetus   nuper   ad  me  scripsit^    ac   Uteris   adjunxit   longum  volumen 
suorum  deliriorum  cum  thrasonica  jactantia,  me  stupenda  et  hactenus 
inaudita   visurum.      Si  mihi  placeat,  hue  se   venturum  recipit.      Sed 
nolo  Jidem  meam  interponere.     Namsi  venerit,  modo  valeat  mea  author- 
itas,  vivum  exire  nunquam  patiar. 

Jam  elapsi  sunt  ultra  quindecim  dies  ex  quo  cartularius  (P.  Ameauxj 
in  carcere  tenetur  :  propterea  quod  tanta  protervia  domi  suae  inter 
CGBnandum  adversum  me  debacchatus  est,  ut  constet  non  fuisse  tunc 
mentis  compotem.  Ego  dissimulanter  tub,  nisi  quod  testatus  sum 
judicibus,  mihi  nequaquam  gratum  fore  si  cum  eo  summo  jure  agere- 
tur.  Volui  eum  invisere.  Senatus  decreto  prohibitus  fuit  aditus.  Et 
tamen  boni  quidam  viri  scilicet,  me  crudelitatis  insimulant,  quod  tam 
pertinaciter  meas  injurias  ulciscar.  Rogatus  sum  ab  ejus  amicis,  ut 
deprecatoris  partes  susciperem.  Facturum  me  negavi,  nisi  his  duabus 
exceptionibus :  ne  qua  suspicio  in  me  resideret,  atque  ut  Christi  honor 
maneret  salvus.  Jam  defunctus  sum.  Expecto  quid  Senatus  pro- 
nunciet.  Vale  frater  et  amice  integerrime,  cum  sororibus,  nostri 
omnes  vos  salutant.  Fratribus  dices  plurimam  salutem  meo  et  sym- 
mistarum  nomine.  Deus  vobis  semper  ac  vestris  faustis  laboribus 
benedicat.  Joannes  Calvinus  Tuus. 

Oenevcs.  idibus  Februar.,  1546. 


4kW 


APPENDIX.  445 

IV. 

TRIE'S  FIRST  LETTER  TO  ARNEYS. 

Monsieur  mon  Cousin, 
Je  vous  mercie  bien  fort  de  tant  du  belles  remontrances  qu'avez 
faictes,  et  ne  double  point  que  vous,  n'y  procediez  de  bonne  amitie 
quand  vous  taschez  a  rae  reduire  au  lieu  dont  je  siiis  pfirty.  D'aul- 
tant  que  je  ne  suis  homrae  verse  aux  lettres  comrae  vous,  je  rae 
deporte  de  satisfaire  aux  poincts  et  articles  que  vous  m'alleguez. 
Tant  y  a  qu'en  la  cognoissance  que  Dieu  m'  a  donne,  j'auroys  de 
quoy  repondre,  car,  Dieu  mercy,  je  ne  suis  pas  si  mal  fonde  que  je  ne 
sache  que  I'eglise  a  Jesu  Christ  poUr  son  chef,  dont  elle  ne  peult  etre 
separee,  et  qu'elle  n'  a  vie  ni  salut,  et  que  du  tout  elle  ne  peult 
consister,  qu'en  la  verite  de  Dieu,  qui  est  contenue  en  I'ecriture 
sainte.  Parquoy  tout  ce  que  vous  me  pourriez  alleguer  de  I'eglise  je 
le  tiendrai  pour  phantosme,  sinon  que  Jesu  Christ  y  preside,  comme 
ayant  toute  autorite,  et  que  la  parole  de  Dieu  y  regne  comme  le 
fondement  et  substance  :  sans  cela  toutes  vos  formalites  ne  sont  rien. 
Je  vous  prie  de  penser  {sic)  la  liberte  dont'je  use  envers  vous,  qui 
n'est  point  seulement  pour  mayntenir  ma  cause  raais  aussi  de  vous 
donner  occasion  de  penser  mieux  a  vous.  Mais  pour  le  faire  court, 
je  me  suis  ebay  comment  vous  m'osez  reprocher  entre  aultres  choses 
que  nous  n'  avons  nulle  discipline  ecclesiastique  ny  ordre,  et  que  ceux 
qui  nous  enseignent  ont  introduit  une  licence  pour  mettre  confusion 
partout ;  et  cependant  je  vois  (Dieu  mercy)  que  les  vices  sont  mieux 
corriges  de  par  de  9a  que  ne  sont  pas  en  toutes  vos  Officialites.  Et 
quant  a  la  doctrine,  et  ce  qui  concerne  la  relligion,  combien  qu'il  y  ait 
plus  grande  liberte  que  entre  nous,  neanmoins  Ton  ne  souffrira  pas 
que  le  nora  de  Dieu  soit  blaspheme,  et  que  I'on  seme  les  doctrines  et 
mauvaises  opinions  que  cela  ne  soit  reprime.  Et  je  vous  puis  alle- 
guer un  exemple  qui  est  a  votre  grande  confusion,  puisque  il  le  faut 
dire.  C'est  que  I'on  soutient  de  par  de  la  un  heretique,  qui  merite 
bien  d'etre  brusle  pai'tout  ou  il  sera.  Quand  je  vous  parle  d'heretique 
j'entends  un  homme  qui  sera  condamne  des  papistes  aultant  que  de 
nous,  ou  de  moins  qui  le  doit  etre.  Car  combien  que  nous  soyons 
difTerens  en  beaucoup  de  choses,  si  avons  vous  commun  que  en  une 
seule  essence  de  Dieu  il  y  a  trois  personnes,  et  que  le  pere  a  engendre 
son  fils,  qui  est  sa  sagesso  eternelle,  de  tout  temps,  et  qu'il  a  eu  sa 
vertu  eternelle  qui  est  son  St.  Esprit.  Or  quand  un  homme  dira  que 
la  Ternite  laquelle  nous  tenons  est  un  Cerberus  et  monstre  d'enfer,  et 
desgorgera  toutes  les  villainies  possibles  de  penser  contre  tout  ce  que 
I'Ecriture  nous  enseigne  de  la  generation  eternelle  du  fils  de  Dieu,  et 
que  le  St.  Esprit  est  la  vertu  du  pere  et  du  fils,  et  se  moquera  a 
gueule  deployee  de  tout  ce  que  les  anciens  docteurs  en  ont  dit,  je  vous 
prye  en  quel  lieu  et  estime  I'aure?;  vouz  ?  Je  dis  ce9i  pour  obvier  a 
toute  replique  que  vous  me  pourriez  faire  que  vous  ne  tiendrez  point 
par  dol  pour  erreur  ce  que  nous  disons  etre  tel ;  ce  que  je  vous  dis 
non  seulement  vous  confesserez  etre  erreur  raais  heresie  detestable, 
qui  est  pour  abolir  toute  Chrestienete.  II  fault  que  je  parle  franche- 
ment.    Quelle  honte  est  oe  que  I'on  fasse  mourir  ceux  qui  diront  qu'il 


446  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ne  faut  invoquer  qu'un  seul  Dieu  au  nom  de  Jesu  Christ,  qu'il  n'y  a 
aultre  satisfaction  que  celle  qui  a  ete  faite  en  la  mort  et  passion  de  J. 
Christ,  qu'il  n'  y  a  aultre  purgatoire  qu'en  son  sang,  qu'il  n'y  a  aultre 
service  agreable  a  Dieu  que  celui  qu'il  commande  et  approuve  par  sa 
parole,  que  toutes  peintures  et  images  que  les  hommes  contrefont  sont 
autant  d'idoles  qui  profanent  sa  Majeste,  qu'on  doit  garder  les  sacre- 
mens  a  tel  usage  qu'il  a  ete  ordonne  de  Jesu  Christ.  Voire,  et  qu'on 
ne  se  contente  pas  de  faire  mourir  telles  gens  d'une  simple  mort,  mais 
qu'on  les  brusle  cruellement.  Cependant  voila  qui  nommera  Jesu 
Christ  idole,  qui  detruira  tous  les  fondemens  ^e  la  foi,  qui  araassera 
toutes  les  reveries  des  heretiques  anciens,  qui  raeme  condamnera  le 
baptisme  des  petits  enfans,  I'appellant  inventions  diaboliques  ;  et  celui- 
la  aura  la  vogue  entre  vous,  et  le  supportera-t-oa  comme  s'il  n'avoit 
point  failly  ?  Je  vous  prie  ou  est  votre  zele  que  vous  pretendez,  et 
ou  est  la  police  de  cette  belle  hierarchie  qiie  vous  raagnifiez  tant? 
L'horame  dont  je  vous  parle  a  ete  condamne  en  toutez  les  eglises 
lesquelles  vous  reprouvez ;  cependant  il  est  souffert  entre  vous,  voire 
jusqu'  a  y  faire  imprimer  ses  livres,  qui  sont  si  pleins  de  blasphemes 
qu'il  il  ne  faut  point  que  j'en  die  plus.  C'est  un  Espagnol  Portu- 
gallois  nomme  Michael  Servetus  de  son  propre  nom,  mais  il  se  nomme 
Villeneuve  a  present,  faisant  le  medecin.  II  a  demeure  quelque  temps 
a  Lyon,  maintenant  il  se  tient  a  Vienne,  ou  le  livre  dont  je  parle  a  ete 
imprime  par  un  quidam  qui  a  la  dresse  imprimerie,  nomme  Balthazard 
Arnoullet.  Et  afin  que  vous  ne  pensiez  que  je  en  parle  a  credit,  je 
vous  envoye  la  premiere  feuille  pour  enseigne.  Vous  dictes  que  les 
livres  qui  ne  contiennent  aultres  choses  sinon  qu'il  se  faut  tenir  a  la 
pure  simplicite  de  I'Ecriture  sainte,  empoisonnent  le  monde,  et  si 
viennent  d'ailleurs  vous  ne  les  pouvez  souffrir ;  cependant  vous  couvez 
la  les  poisons  qui  sont  pour  aneantir  I'Ecriture  sainte  et  meme  tout 
ce  que  vous  tenez  de  Chrestienete.  Je  me  suis  quasi  oublie  en  vous 
recitant  cet  exemple,  car  j'ay  ete  quatre  fois  plus  long,  que  je  ne 
pensois ;  mais  I'enormite  du  cas  me  fait  passer  mesure,  et  voila  qui 
sera  cause  que  je  ne  vous  feray  plus  longs  propos  sur  les  aultres 
mat.ieres.  Comme  aussi  de  fait  il  me  semble  qu'il  n'est  pas  grand 
besoin  que  je  vous  reponde  sur  chacun  article ;  seulement  je  vous 
prieray  d'entrer  un  peu  plus  profond  en  votre  conscience  pour  vous 
juger  vous  meme,  afin  que  quand  il  faudra  venir  devant  le  grand  Juge 
vous  ne  soyez  pas  condamne.  Car  pour  le  dire  en  ung  mot,  nous 
n'avons  aultre  debat  sinon  que  nous  demandons  que  Dieu  soit  ecoute. 
Parquoy  faisant  fin  a  la  presente,  je  le  prieray  qu'il  vous  donne  oreilles 
pour  ouir,  et  cceur  pour  obe'ir.  Cependant  qu'il  vous  ait  en  sa  sainte 
garde,  me  recommendant  de  bien  bon  coBur  a  votre  bonne  grace,  et  de 
Mons.  mon  Cousin,  votre  frere. 
De  Geneve,  ce  26  Fevrier. 

TRIE'S  SECOND  LETTER  TO  ARNEYS. 

Monsieur  mon  Cousin, 
Quand  je  vous  ecrivis  la  lettre  que  vous  avez  communiquee  a  ceux 
qui  y  6toient  taxes  de  nonchalance  je  ne  pensois  point  que  la  chose 
dut  venir  si  avant.      Seulement  mon  intention  etoit  de  vous  remontrer 


APPENDIX.  447 

quel  est  le  beau  zele  et  devotion  de  ceux  qui  se  disent  piliers  de 
Teglise,  bien  qu'ils  souffrent  tel  desordre  au  milieu  d'eux,  et  cependant 
persecutent  si  durement  les  pauvres  Chretiens  qui  desirent  de  suivre 
Dieu  en  simplicite.  Pour  ce  que  I'exemple  etoit  notable,  et  que  j'  en 
etois  averti,  il  me  sembla  que  I'occasion  s'offroit  d'en  toucher  en  mes 
lettres  selon  la  raatiere  que  je  traitois.  Or  puisque  vous  avez  declare 
ce  que  j 'avals  entendu  ecrire  privement  a  vous  seul,  Dieu  veuille  pour 
le  mieux  que  cela  profite  a  purger  la  Chretienete  de  telles  ordures, 
voyre  de  pestes  si  mortelles.  S'ils  ont  tant  bon  vouloir  de  s'y  employer 
corame  vous  le  dites,  il  me  semble  que  la  chose  n'y  est  pas  trop  diffi- 
cile, encore  que  ne  vous  puisse  fournir  pour  le' present  de  ce  que  vous 
demandez,  assavoir  du  livre  imprime ;  car  je  vous  mettrai  en  main 
plus  pour  vous  convaincre,  assavoir,  deux  douzaines  de  pieces  ecrites 
de  celui  dont  il  est  question,  ou  une  partie  de  ses  heresies  est  contenue 
Si  on  lui  mettoit  au  devant  le  livre  imprime  il  le  pourroit  renier,  ce 
qu'il  ne  pourra  faire  de  son  ecriture.  Parquoy  les  gens  que  vous  dites 
ayant  la  chose  toute  prouvee  n'auront  nulle  excuse  s'ils  dissimulent 
plus,  ou  different  a  y  pourvoir.  Tout  le  reste  est  bien  par  de9a,  tant 
le  gros  livre  que  les  autres  traites  ecrits  de  la  meme  main  de  I'auteur; 
mais  je  vous  confesserai  une  chose,  que  j"ai  eu  grande  peine  a  retirer 
ce  que  je  vous  envois  de  M.  Calvin ;  non  pas  qu'il  ne  desire  que  tels 
blasphemes  execrables  ne  soient  reprimes,  mais  pour  ce  qu'il  lui 
semble  que  son  devoir  est,  quant  a  lui  qui  n'a  point  de  glaive  de  justice, 
de  convaincre  plutot  les  heresies  par  doctrine,  que  de  les  poursuivre 
par  tel  raoyen ;  mais  je  I'ai  tant  importune  lui  remontrant  le  reproche 
de  legierete  qui  m'en  pourroit  avenir  s'il  ne  m'aidoit,  qu'en  la  fin,  il 
s'est  accorde  a  me  bailler  ce  que  verrez.  Au  reste  j'espere  bien, 
quand  le  cas  se  demeneroit  a  bon  escient  par  dela,  avec  le  temps  re- 
couvrer  de  lui  une  rame  de  papier  ou  environ,  qui  est  ce  que  le  galand 
a  fait  imprimer.  Mais  il  me  semble  que  pour  cette  heure  vous  etes 
garni  d'assez  bon  gaige,  et  qu'il  n'est  ja  mystere  d'avoir  plus  pour  se 
saisir  de  sa  personne  et  lui  faire  son  proces.  Quand  de  ma  part  je 
prie  Dieu  qu'il  lui  plaise  ouvrir  les  yeux  a  ceux  qui  discourent  si  raal, 
afin  qu'ils  apprennent  de  mieux  juger  du  desir  duquel  nous  sommes 
mus.  Et  pour  ce  qu'il  semble  bien  par  votre  lettre  que  vous  ne 
voulez  plus  entrer  au  propos  que  vous  m'aviez  tenu  par  fidevant,  je 
m'en  deporte  aussi  pour  ne  vous  point  facher,  esperant  neanmoins  que 
Dieu  en  la  fin  vous  fera  bien  sentir  que  je  n'ai  point  pris  a  la  volee  le 
parti  que  je  tiens.  Me  recommandant  a  votre  bonne  grace,  priant 
Dieu  vous  tenir  en  la  sienne. 
De  Ginh^e,  ce  26  Mars. 

TRIE'S  THIRD  LETTER  TO  ARNEYS. 

Monsieur  mon  Cousin, 
J'espere  que  j'aurai  en  part  satisfait  a  ce  que  me  demandez  vous 
envoyant  la  main  de  celui  qui  a  compose  le  livre,  et  meme  en  le 
derniere  epistre  que  vous  avez  re9u  vous  trouverez  ce  qu'il  declare  de 
son  nom,  lequel  il  avoit  deguise ;  car  il  s' excuse  de  ce  qu'il  s'est  fait 
nommer  Villeneuve,  combien  que  son  nom  soit  Servetus  alias  Reves^ 
disant  qu'il  a  pris  son  nom  de  la  ville  dont  il  est  natif.     Au  reste  je 


448  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 

vous  tiendrai  promesse,  au  plaisir  de  Dieu,  que  si  besoin  fait  je  vous 
fournerai  les  traites  lesquels  il  a  fait  impriraer,  et  ecrits  de  sa  main 
aussi  bien  que  les  epitres.  J'eusse  deja  mis  peine  de  les  retirer  s'ils 
eussent  ete  en  cette  ville,  mais  ils  sont  a  Lausanne  il  y  a  deux  ans. 
Si  M.  Calvin  les  eut  eu,  je  crois  pour  ce  qu'ils  valient  qu'il  les  eut 
bientot  renvoyes  a  I'auteur ;  mais  pour  ce  qu'il  les  avoit  addrssse 
aussi  bien  a  d'autres,  ceux  la  les  ont  retenu.  Meme  a  ce  que  j'ai 
autrefois  entendu,  le  dit  sieur  ayant  suffisament  repondu  pour  contenter 
un  homme  raisonnable,  voyant  que  cela  ne  profitoit  rien  envers  un  tel 
ouvrage,  ne  daigna  jamais  lire  le  reste,  pour  ce  qu'il  etoit  deja  trop 
battu  des  sottes,  reveries  et  du  babil  que  I'autre  ne  fait  que  reiterer, 
ayant  toujours  meme  chanson.  Ei  afin  que  vous  entendiez  que  ce 
n'est  pas  d'aujourdhuy  que  ce  malheureux  s'efForce  de  troubler  I'Eglise, 
tachant  de  mener  les  ignorans  en  une  meme  confusion  avec  lui,  il  y  a 
24  (ans)  passes  qu'on  I'a  rejette  et  chasse  des  principales  eglises 
d'Alleraagne,  et  s'il  se  fut  trouve  au  lieu  jamais  il  n'en  fut  parti. 
Entre  les  epitres  d'CEcolampade,  la  lere,  et  la  2de  s'addressent  a  luy 
avec  tel  titre  que  lui  appartient,  Serveio  Hispano  neganti  Christum 
esse  Dei  Filium^  consubstantialem  Pafri.  Melancthon  en  parle  aussi 
en  quelques  passages.  Mais  me  semble  que  vous  avez  la  preuve 
assez  aisee,  par  ce  que  je  vous  ai  deja  envoye  pour  enfoncer  plus  avant, 
voire  pour  eommencer  le  tout.  Quant  a  I'imprimeur  je  ne  vous  mande 
pas  les  indices  par  lesquels  nous  avons  entendu  que  c'etoit  Balthasar 
Arnoullet  et  Guillaume  Gueroult,  son  beau  frere ;  mais  tant  y  a  que 
nous  en  sommes  bien  assure  ;  et  de  fait  il  ne  pourra  pas  le  nier.  II 
est  bien  possible  que  c'aura  ete  aux  depens  de  I'auteur,  et  que  lui  aura 
retire  les  copies  en  sa  main;  mais  si  trouverez  vous  que  I'impression 
est  sortie  de  la  boutique  que  je  vous  nomme.  Pour  ce  que  le  mes- 
sager  demande  etre  depeche  bientot,  m'ayant  toutes  fois  presente  vos 
lettres  bien  tard,  de  peur  comme  je  crois  d'etre  solicite  a  bien  faire,  je 
vous  ai  fait  cette  reponse  en  brief,  parquoy  je  vous  prie  excuser  la 
hativete.  II  me  semble  que  j'avois  omis  de  vous  ecrire  qu'apres  que 
vous  auriez  fait  des  epitres,  qu'il  vous  plut  ne  les  egarer  a€n  de  les 
me  renvoyer.  Qui  sera  I'endroit  ou  je  ferai  fin  a  la  presente,  me  re- 
commandant  toujours  a  votre  bonne  grace,  etc. 
De  G6nev€,  ce  dernier  Mars. 


• 

INDEX 


Abraham  Sacrifiant,   Beza's    poem 

of,  208. 
Adiaphoristic  controversy,  origin  of 

the,  200. 
Adultery,  how  punished  at  Geneva, 

133. 
Agricola,  John,  197. 
Aix,  Parliament  of,  its  decree  against 

the  W^aldenses,  167. 
A'Lasco,  John,  repulsed  by  the  Ger- 
mans, 333 ;  his  efforts  for  a  union 

of  the  churches,  360. 
Alciat,  Andre,  Calvin's  tutor,  19. 
Alciat,  Gian  Paolo,  371. 
Alcxiin,  Calvin's  pseudonym  of,  93. 
Aleander,  24. 

Amboise,  conspiracy  of,  393, 
Ameaux,  Pierre,  process  against,  173. 
Amsdorf,  Bishop,  201. 
Anabaptists,     Calvin's     disputation 

with,  64. 
Antitrinitarians,    their    increase    at 

Geneva,  367. 
Apocalypse,  Calvin's  opinion  of  the, 

93  ;  declines  to  edit  it,  257. 
Arneys,  Antoine,  260. 
Arnoullet,  260,  264. 
Artichokes,  faction  of,  102. 
Astrology,  Calvin's  tract  against,  196. 
Augsburg,  diet  of  (1555),  358. 
Augustin,  St.,  sketch  of  his  life  and 

doctrines,  217,  et  seq. 


B. 


Bale,  Bishop  of  Ossoiy,  346. 

Baptism,  how  administered,  123 ;  Pop- 
ish, not  inefficacious,  213. 

Baudouin,  Francis,  400  ;  Calvin's  con- 
troversy with,  419. 

Bayle,  his  remark  on  Castellio's  de- 
fense, 367. 

Beda,  Natalis,  25,  34,  35. 

Bell  ay,  Cardinal  du,  187. 

Bellius,  Martinus,  answers  Calvin's 
Rcfutatio,  305. 


Bells,  popish  superstition  respecting, 
72,  note. 

Berauld,  Francis,  384. 

Bernard,  James,  solicits  Calvin's  re- 
turn to  Geneva,  108. 

Berne,  clergy  of,  adopt  the  Zurich 
Concensus,  212 ;  their  tolerant  spir- 
it, 234 ; — council  of,  their  letter  to 
Farel  and  Calvin,  68,  69  ;  another 
letter,  77  ;  intercede  with  the  Gen- 
evese  in  favor  of  Calvin,  82 ;  medi- 
ate in  favor  of  Perrin,  188  ;  reply  to 
the  council  of  Geneva,  317  ;  refuse 
to  decide  on  the  doctrine  of  predes- 
tination, 320;  —  synod  of,  acquits 
Calvin  of  Arianism,  QQ. 

Bei-nese  rites,  ministers  of  Geneva 
opposed  to,  74. 

Berquin,  translates  some  pieces  of 
Erasmus,  25 ;  trial  and  martyrdom 
of,  25,  26. 

Berthelier,  Philibert,  excommunicat- 
ed, 126  ;  absolved  by  the  council, 
307  ;  excites  the  Genevese  against 
Farel,  310  ;  flies  from  Geneva,  328  ; 
sentence  on,  330. 

Beza,  not  the  author  of  the  Hist,  des 
Eglises  R&f.,  33,  note ;  character- 
izes Calvin  as  bishop  of  Geneva, 
125  ;  his  insinuation  against  Cas- 
tellio,  135 ;  arrives  at  Geneva,  206  ; 
his  youth  and  education,  206,  et 
seq.;  edits  Paul's  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  208 ;  his  charge  against 
Bolsec,  237 ;  accuses  Castellio  and 
Socinus  of  writing  the  Farrago, 
305  ;  disobeys  the  Bernese  govern- 
ment, 318;  his  hostility  to  Bolsec, 
321 ;  intercedes  for  the  Waldenses, 
341 ;  his  ambiguous  confession,  341 ; 
proceeds  to  Worms,  343 ;  subscribes 
the  Confession  of  Augsburg,  343 ; 
origin  of  his  enmity  to  Castellio, 
366  ;  endeavors  to  procure  Gentile's 
condemnation,  376  ;  demands  his 
dismissal  from  the  ministry  of  Lau- 
sanne, 381 ;  made  rector  of  the  Gen- 
evese Academy,  384  ;  manages  the 
conference  at  Poissy,  401 ;  his  in- 
terview with  Catherine  de  Medi 


450 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 


cis,  401 ;  detained  in  France,  405 ; 
preaches  publicly  at  Paris,  406  ; 
remonstrates  against  the  massacre 
of  Vassy,  412  ;  his  danger,  412  ; 
convokes  a  synod  at  Orleans,  414  ; 
his  conduct  at  the  battle  of  Dreux, 
415  ;  accused  of  inciting  Polti'ot, 
415 ;  returns  to  Geneva,  418  ;  an- 
swers Baudouin,  421;  replies  to 
Hesshus,  424 ;  his  lines  to  Calvin's 
memory,  432  ;  his  character  of  Cal- 
vin, 434. 

Biandrata,  George,  370. 

Bocher,  Joan,  her  case,  and  that  of 
Servetus  compared,  279. 

Bolsec,  Jerome,  his  calumny  respect- 
ing Calvin,  33,  note  ;  arrives  at  Gen- 
eva, 224 ;  Calvin's  account  of  his 
tenets,  225  ;  his  violent  harangue, 
227  ;  apprehended,  227  ;  his  verses, 
231 ;  banished  from  Geneva,  235  ; 
banished  from  Berne,  322  ;  appears 
at  Orleans,  414. 

Bonnivard,  prior  of  St.  Victor,  impris- 
onment of,  45 ;  his  tolerant  spirit, 
59  ;  endows  the  Genevese  schools, 
377. 

Bossuet,  his  parallel  of  Luther  and 
Calvin,  440. 

Bourbon,  Anthony,  king  of  Navarre, 
390,  392  ;  defrauded  of  the  regency, 
397  ;  his  apostasy,  408,  409. 

Bourbon,  Cardinal,  389  ;  made  govern- 
or of  Paris,  413. 

Brantome,  27. 

Brederode,  Madame  de,  Bolsec's 
charge  against  Calvin  respecting, 
237. 

Brentz,  his  attacks  on  Calvin,  335 ; 
frustrates  a  union  between  the  Lu- 
theran and  Reformed  churches,  360. 

Bretschneider,  his  remark  on  Calvin's 
doctrine  of  predestination,  39,  note  ; 
when  first  adopted  by  Calvin,  223. 

Briqonnet,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  protects 
the  Reformers,  27 ;  compelled  to 
dismiss  them,  28. 

Brothers  in  Christ,  faction  so  called, 
74. 

Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  his  remark  on 
predestination,  220,  note. 

Bride-bancs,  Montmorency  so  called, 
414. 

Bucer,  his  confession  respecting  the 
eucharist,  70 ;  offers  Calvin  a  min- 
istry at  Strasburgli,  84  ;  his  opinion 
of  Calvin  and  Farel,  85;  his  threat 
toward  Calvin,  110;  alarmed  at  the 
Interim,  198  ;  refuses  to  subscribe  it, 
199;  his  opinion  on  clerical  robes, 
241 ;  death  of,  242  ;  his  judgment  of 
Servetus,  251. 


Bullinger  intercedes  with  the  Gene- 
vese in  favor  of  Calvin,  81 ;  writes 
against  the  Interim,  200  ;  differs 
with  Calvin  on  some  points  of  doc- 
trine, 211 ;  his  opinion  on  the  case 
of  Bolsec,  233 ;  recommends  the 
capital  punishment  of  Servetus,  283 ; 
exhorts  Calvin  to  write  against  him, 
295  ;  objects  to  the  style  of  Calvin's 
book,  303 ;  disapproves  of  Calvin's 
abuse  of  Westphal,  335  ;  offended 
at  Beza's  and  Farel's  confession 
of  faith,  342 ;  charges  Calvin  with 
a  breach  of  the  Consensus,  344. 

Bures,  Idelette  de,  Calvin  marries 
her,  92. 


C. 


Calvin,  AiKthony,  41,  275. 

Calvin,  John,  his  birth  and  parentage, 
16 ;  education,  17  ;  obtains  some 
preferments,  17  ;  his  studies  at  Or- 
leans, 19 ;  consulted  on  Henry  the 
Eighth's  divorce,  19 ;  proceeds  to 
Bourges,  19  ;  conversion  to  Protest- 
antism, 19  ;  loses  his  father  and  set- 
tles at  Paris,  20  ;  his  exertions  there 
as  a  Reformer,  31  ;  assumes  the 
name  of  Calvinus,  31 ;  composes  a 
sermon  for  Cop,  rector  of  the  Sor- 
bonne,  32  ;  flies  from  Paris,  32  ;  sells 
his  benefice,  33,  meets  Le  Fevre 
d'Etaples  at  Nerac,  33;  returns  to 
Paris  to  meet  Servetus,  34 ;  his 
Psyclwpannychia,  35 ;  second  flight, 
38;  studies  Hebrew  at  Basle,  38; 
finishes  his  "  Institutes,"  38  ;  his 
preface  to  Olivetan's  Bible,  39  ;  vis- 
its Ferrara,  39  ;  returns  to  France, 
41  ;  final  departure  from  Noyon, 
41  ;  arrives  at  Geneva,  41 ;  his  fii'st 
sermon  there,  63  ;  converts  a  bare- 
footed friar,  63 ;  accused  of  Arian- 
ism,  65  ;  invited  to  the  synod  of 
Lausanne,  76 ;  rejects  the  decision 
of  that  body,  76 ;  refuses  to  admin- 
ister the  sacrament,  and  is  banish- 
ed, 78  ;  attends  the  synod  of  Zurich, 
79  ;  his  treatment  at  Berne,  81  ;  pro- 
ceeds to  Basle,  84  ;  accepts  a  minis- 
try at  Strasburgh,  86  ;  his  epistle  to 
the  Genevese  church,  86  ;  attends  a 
diet  at  Frankfort,  83;  meets  Me- 
lancthon,  88  ;  pecuniary  difiiculties, 
90  ;  marries,  91 ;  birth  of  a  son,  92  ; 
Commentary  on  St.  Paul,  93  ;  an- 
swer to  Sadolet,  93 ;  attends  the 
diets  of  Hagenau  and  Worms,  96  ; 
his  Epinicion,  96  ;  attends  the  diet 
of  Ratisbon,  97  ;  his  paper  on  the 


INDEX. 


451 


local  presence,  100 ;  leaves  Ratis 
bon,  101 ;  solicited  to  retnrn  to  Geu 
eva,  101 ;  character  of  his  succes- 
sors there,  104 ;  reluctance  to  return, 
109;  visits  Neufchatel,  111;  recep- 
tion at  Geneva,  112  ;  salary,  112  ; 
character  of  his  colleagues,  ll4  ;  his 
moderation,  114;  establishes  his  dis- 
cipline, 117 ;  his  ecclesiastical  pol- 
ity, 118  ;  aristocratic  views,  119  ; 
usurps  the  presidency  of  the  con- 
sistory, 121 ;  publishes  his  "  Litur- 
gy," 123 ;  notion  of  the  priestly 
character,  124  ;  severity,  126  ;  letter 
to  the  King  of  Poland,  130  ;  code  of 
civil  law,  131 ;  his  oligarchical  sen- 
timents, 132 ;  effects  of  his  laws, 
134 ;  exempted  from  attending  the 
Lazaretto,  137;  answers  Pighius, 
139;  tract  on  relics,  142;  visits 
Strasburgh,  145 ;  intercourse  with 
Castellio,  146,  et  seq. ;  tract  de  Re- 
formandd  Ecclesid,  150  ;  Scholia  on 
the  Pope's  letter,  151 ;  tracts  against 
the  Anabaptists  and  Libertines, 
153;  answer  to  the  dueen  of  Na- 
vaiTe,  155 ;  advises  Bullinger  not 
to  answer  Luther,  157 ;  opinion  of 
Luther,  159 ;  letter  to  Luther,  159  , 
consults  him  and  Melancthon,  160  ; 
tracts  against  the  Nicodemites,  161 ; 
compares  himself  to  the  Apostle, 
163  ;  his  pecuniary  necessities,  163  ; 
fear  of  the  plague,  165;  intercedes 
for  the  Waldenses,  170 ;  severity 
toward  Ameaux,  174;  despotism, 
175 ;  priestcraft,  176  ;  disputes  with 
the  Fabri  family,  178 ;  his  life  threat- 
ened, 183 ;  desires  Gruet's  execu- 
tion, 185  ;  struggles  with  the  Liber- 
tines, 186  ;  quells  a  sedition,  188 ; 
admonished  by  the  council,  190 ; 
reprimanded,  192 ;  translates  Me- 
lancthon's  Loci,  194  ;  vmtes  against 
the  Council  of  Trent,  194  ;  Com- 
mentaries on  St.  Paul,  196;  tract 
against  astrology,  196  ;  against  the 
Interim,  197  ;  correspondence  with 
Bucer,  199 ;  censures  Melancthon, 
201  ;  death  of  his  wife,  204 ;  ar- 
ranges the  Zurich  Consensus,  208; 
his  doctrine  of  the  eucharist,  209 : 
answer  to  L .  Socinus,  213  ;  tract  de 
Scandalis,  215]  his  docti'ine  of  pre- 
destination, 219,  et  seq. ;  translation 
of  Melancthon's  Loci,  223 ;  inteiTO- 
gation  of  Bolsec,  228,  et  seq. ;  sus- 
pected of  wishing  to  put  him  to 
death,  231 ;  misundei'standing  with 
Bullinger,  233  ;  tract  on  predestina- 
tion, 238 ;  letter  to  Somerset,  238  ; 
dedicates  his  Commentary  on  Isaiah 


to  Edward  VI.,  240  ;  his  opinion  on 
Bishop  Hooper's  scruples,  242;  de- 
clines Cranmer's  invitation  to  En- 
gland, 244 ;  view  of  the  English 
church,  245,  et  seq. ;  forwards  evi- 
dence against  Sei'vetus  to  Vienne, 
265  ;  appears  against  him  at  Gene- 
va, 276  ;  visits  him  in  his  dungeon, 
281 ;  draws  up  a  refutation  of  his 
doctrines,  282 ;  protests  against  the 
Swiss  churches  being  consulted, 
282;  efforts  to  alleviate  Servetus's 
punishment,  288  ;  publishes  his  book 
against  tliat  heretic,  295;  his  de- 
fense examined,  296,  et  seq. ;  op- 
poses Berthelier's  absolution,  308; 
libel  upon  him,  314 ;  disputes  with 
the  ministers  of  the  Pays  de  Vaud, 
315;  visits  Berne  on  that  account, 
318 ;  dissatisfied  with  the  decision 
of  the  Bernese,  322;  address  to  the 
Two  Hundred  in  favor  of  the  dis- 
cipline, 324;  motives  of  his  conduct 
toward  the  Libertines,  329  ;  contro- 
versy with  the  Lutherans,  332,  et 
seq.;  answers Westphal, 336;  urges 
Melancthon  to  declare  himself,  338  ; 
angry  letter  to  Bullinger,  344 ;  ap- 
pealed to  by  the  English  exiles,  352 ; 
letter  to  Dr.  Cox  and  his  party,  355 ; 
visits  Frankfort,  360  ;  publishes  his 
tract  on  predestination,  365 ;  pro- 
cures the  banishment  of  Gribaldo, 
368  ;  his  "  Admonition  to  the  Polish 
Brethren,"  375  ;  his  numerous  audit- 
ors, 377  ;  his  illness,  385 ;  dedicates 
his  Commentary  on  Isaiah  to  dueen 
Elizabeth,  386  ;  his  answer  to  Knox, 
387  ;  suspected  of  the  conspiracy 
of  Amboise,  393-395 ;  declines  the 
ministry  at  Paris,  399  ;  reproves  the 
King  of  Navarre,  410  ;  his  prayers 
for  Guise,  416;  answers  Baudouin, 
420  ;  controversy  with  Hesshus, 
423;  last  illness,  425;  death,  432; 
his  will,  433 ;  his  character,  434,  et 
seq. 

Capito,  Wolfgang,  38  ;  his  confession 
respecting  the  eucharist,  70. 

Caroli,  P.,  some  account  of,  64 ; 
charges  Calvin  with  Arianism,  65  ; 
re-appears  in  Switzerland,  95 ;  his 
machinations  against  Farel,  145; 
his  death,  145. 

Carraccioli,  Marquis  of  Vico,  Calvin's 
dedication  to,  238  ;  settles  at  Gen- 
eva, 368. 

Carlostadt  rejects  the  doctrine  of  the 
real  presence,  14 ;  an  enemy  of 
learning,  47. 

Cassaubon,  125. 

Cassander,  419. 


452 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN 


Cassane  (or  Chasane),  his  sentence  on 
the  Waldenses,  167. 

Castalio  (see  CastelHo). 

Castellan,  23. 

CastelHo,  Sebastian,  offers  to  go  to  the 
Lazaretto,  135;  some  account  of, 
147;  his  quarrel  with  Calvin,  147; 
his  version  of  the  New  Testament, 
146  ;  demands  a  public  disputation 
with  Calvin,  148;  insults  the  Gen- 
evese  ministers,  149 ;  his  banish- 
ment, 149  ;  suspected  of  libeling 
Calvin,  314 ;  accused  of  reviving 
the  predestinarian  controversy,  363 ; 
charged  with  theft  by  Calvin,  366. 

Castelnau,  Baron  de,  394. 

Catherine  de  Medicis  persecutes  the 
Calvinists,  392 ;  her  artful  policy, 
397,  405  ;  methods  of  seduction  em- 
ployed by,  409  ;  her  interview  with 
Conde,  414. 

Cecil,  Secretary,  Calvin's  letter  to, 
386. 

Celsus,  Minus,  his  judgment  in  the 
case  of  Servetus,  286  ;  quotation 
from  the  first  edition  of  the  "  In- 
stitutes," 298 ;  character  of  his  Dis- 
putatio,  305;  his  account  of  Gen- 
tile's execution,  376,  note. 

Cental,  Countess  of,  168. 

Chambers,  Richard,  351. 

Chambre  ardente,  390. 

Chancer^/  of  God,  society  at  Magde- 
burg, so  called,  201. 

Charles  V.,  Emperor,  his  exhortation 
to  the  disputants  at  Ratisbon,  99 ; 
Bucer's  character  of,  150  ;  perse- 
cutes the  Belgians,  151. 

Charles  IX.,  accession  of,  397. 

Chatillon,  Cardinal,  389. 

Chauvin,  Chai'les  (Calvin's  brother), 
dies,  41. 

Chemin,  Nicholas  du,  19. 

Chevalier,  Anthony,  384. 

Chiavenna,  heterodoxy  there,  212. 

Chillon  taken  by  the  Bernese,  45. 

Church,  the,  Calvin's  theory  of,  118, 
et  seq. 

Churches,  Swiss,  consulted  respect- 
ing Bolsec,  229 ;  answers  of,  in  the 
case  of  Servetus,  286  ;  consulted 
respecting  excommunication,  311. 

Clement  VII.,  Pope,  publishes  a  jubi- 
lee, 45. 

Cochloeus,  answers  Calvin's  Antidot- 
on,  195. 

Coligny,  Admiral,  390  ;  summoned  to 
defend  the  king,  394 ;  presents  a 
petition  from  Normandy,  395 ;  pro- 
poses Anthony  as  regent,  400 ;  ac- 
cused of  instigating  Guise's  assas- 
sination, 416. 


Colladon,  his  code  of  laws,  131 ;  his 
unreasonable  severity,  167. 

Conde,  Prince  of,  390 ;  made  com- 
mandant of  AmWse,  394  ;  his  plot, 
396  ;  apprehended  and  condemned, 
but  escapes,  397  ;  profligacy  of,  409  ; 
occupies  Orleans,  414. 

Congregation,  Calvinistic,  surprised 
at  Paris,  342. 

Consistory,  Genevese,  how  constitut- 
ed, 121 ;  method  of  proceeding  in, 
128. 

Constance  resists  the  Interim,  197. 

Contarini,  Cardinal,  93,  97. 

Conz  (or  Kuntzen),  his  character,  76. 

Cop,  Nicholas,  rector  of  the  Sorbonne, 
denounced,  32 ; — Michael,  his  over- 
zeal,  175. 

Copa,  Madame,  sentence  upon,  127. 

Corderius,  Calvin's  tutor,  17  ;  appoint- 
ed regent  of  the  schools  at  Geneva, 
146. 

Corne,  syndic,  179,  180. 

Council,  Genevese,  how  elected,  60; 
power  of,  61 ;  Calvin's  last  inter- 
view with,  427 ;  testimony  to  Cal- 
vin's character,  432. 

Courault  brought  to  Geneva  by  Calvin, 
63  ;  offensive  sermon  of,  78  ;  banish- 
ed, 79  ;  dies,  79. 

Cox,  Dr.  Richard,  arrives  at  Frank- 
fort, 354 ;  procures  Knox's  banish- 
ment there,  355  ;  answers  Calvin's 
remonstrances,  356. 

Crakanthorpe,  his  assertion  respect- 
ing Pighius,  140,  141. 

Cranmer,  Calvin's  coiTespondence 
with,  238 ;  projects  of  union,  242 ; 
progress  of  his  opinions,  243  ;  re- 
jects Lutheranisra,  244  ;  invites  the 
assistance  of  Calvin,  244  ;  his  sit- 
uation misunderstood  by  Calvin, 
247  ;  his  reform,  whether  final,  348. 

Cruciger,  Caspar,  96. 

D. 

D'Albret,  Henry,  28. 

Daniel,  Francois,  19. 

D'Andelot,  390  ;  imprisoned,  391. 

D'Artigny,  Abbe,  his  assertion  re- 
specting Trie's  letter,  263 ;  charac- 
ter of  Calvin's  style,  440. 

Davila,  his  character  of  Calvin,  439. 

Deacons,  their  oftice,  123. 

De  Huy,  Gaspar,  143. 

De  la  Barre,  Geoffrey,  393. 

De  la  Beaume,  Peter,  bishop  of  Gen- 
eva, his  character,  44  ;  re-enters 
Geneva,  54. 

De  la  Forge,  Stephen,  patronizes 
Calvin,  31. 


INDEX. 


453 


De  Mouchy  (or  Demochares),  393. 

Des  Gallars,  386. 

De  Soubisc,  Madame,  40. 

Despense,  Claude,  404. 

D'Etampes,  Duchess,  389. 

D'Etaples,  Le  Fevre,  banished,  34  ; 
his  opinion  of  Calvin,  34 ;  Farel's 
tutor,  47. 

De  Thou,  president,  392 ;  his  charac- 
ter of  Calvin,  439. 

Dress,  Bernese,  an  emblem  of  sedi- 
tion, 184. 

Du  Bourg,  Anne,  execution  of,  393. 

Du  Tillet,  Louis,  receives  Calvin  at 
Claix,  34  ;  accompanies  him  to 
Basle,  38. 


E. 


EcK,  Dr.,  character  of,  98  ;  struck 
with  illness,  100;  Calvin's  account 
of  his  convalescence,  100. 

Eidgenossen,  faction  so  called,  44. 

Elders,  mode  of  electing,  121 ;  domi- 
ciliary visits  of,  214. 

Episcopacy,  appi'oved  of  by  Calvin  in 
large  states,  130. 

Epistolce  obscitrorum  Virornm,  the, 
29. 

Erasmus  suspects  the  Papists  of  pois- 
oning, 24 ;  joins  the  Reuchlinists, 
30 ;  his  character  as  a  Reformer, 
30;  his  popularity  in  France,  31; 
Calvin's  alleged  interview  with,  38 ; 
Farel's  visit  to,  48  ;  his  opinion  on 
the  study  of  Hebrew,  131 ;  approv- 
ed of  Bucer's  candor,  198. 

Eucharist,  Calvin's  doctrine  of  the, 
209,  332. 

Excommunication,  63  ;  right  of,  when 
obtained  by  Calvin,  130,  324. 


F. 


Fallais,  Mons.  de,  patronizes  Bol- 
sec,  230 ;  his  connection  with  Cal- 
vin, 235. 

Farel,  "William,  regent  of  the  College 
of  Cardinal  le  Moine,  28 ;  suspect- 
ed of  writing  the  Placards,  35 ;  de- 
tains Calvin  at  Geneva,  42;  some 
account  of,  46,  et  seq. ;  publishes 
thirteen  Theses  at  Basle,  47  ;  quar- 
rels with  Erasmus,  48  ;  expelled 
'  from  Basle,  48  ;  preaches  in  Switz- 
erland, 49  ;  arrival  at  Geneva,  52  ; 
flies  to  Orbe,  52 ;  his  address  to  the 
Two  Hundred,  58 ;  his  intolerance, 
59 ;  banished,  78 ;  accepts  the  min- 
istry   of   Neufcliatel,    84  ;     invited 


back  to  Geneva,  105  ;  quaiTels  with 
his  flock,  111;  visits  Geneva,  116; 
preaches  at  Metz,  143  ;  retires  to 
Gorze,  144  ;  visits  Geneva,  145  ; 
pleads  Calvin's  cause  with  the  coun- 
cil, 191,  et  seq.;  opinion  on  Calvin's 
Anlidole,  195;  urges  a  union  with 
Zurich,  209 ;  his  violence  toward 
Servetus,  283  ;  accompanies  him  to 
the  stake,  290  ;  accused  of  insulting 
the  Genevese,  310;  acquitted,  310; 
exhorts  Calvin  to  moderation,  336 ; 
efforts  for  the  Waldenses,  341;  am- 
biguous confession,  341 ;  allows  the 
Confession  of  Augsburg,  343  ;  letter 
to  the  ministers  of  Lausanne,  382; 
marriage,  384 ;  visits  Calvin  in  his 
last  illness,  431 ;  his  death,  431. 

Ferrara,  Calvin's  visit  to,  39. 

Ferrara,  Renee,  Duchess  of,  40  ;  Cal- 
vin's letter  to,  regarding  oaths,  301, 

Fetes,  abolishment  of,  at  Geneva,  213. 

Flaccius,  his  attacks  on  Melancthon, 
201. 

Fontainebleau,  assembly  of  Notables 
at,  395. 

Fontaine,  Nicholas  de  la,  prosecutes 
Servetus,  275. 

Foussalet,  316. 

Fox,  John,  the  martyrologist,  346. 

France,  state  of  religion  in,  20,  389. 

Francis  I.,  how  disposed  toward  the 
Reformation,  21 ;  incensed  by  the 
Placards,  36  ;  directs  a  lustration  of 
Paris,  36 ;  invites  Melancthon  to 
France,  38 ;  dethrones  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  44  ;  requires  the  Waldenses 
to  recant,  168. 

Francis  II.,  accession  of,  392 ;  death, 
397. 

Frankfort,  diet  of,  88. 

Frellon,  Calvin's  letter  to,  258. 

Friburgh  renounces  the  Genevese 
alliance,  44,  56. 

Froment,  Antoine,  endeavors  to  re- 
form Geneva,  52. 

Froschover  offends  Luther,  156. 

Furbity,  Guy,  preaches  at  Geneva,  55. 

Furstenburg,  Count,  protects  Farel, 
144. 


G. 


Gallus,  Nicholas,  201. 

Genesius,  Peter,  375. 

Geneva,  Calvin's  arrival  at,  41 ;  some 
account  of,  43  ;  progress  of  the  Ref- 
ormation at,  44  ;  first  Protestant  ser- 
mon at,  56  ;  convents  of,  demolished, 
57  ;  abolition  of  popery  at,  57  ;  con- 
stitution of,   60,  et  seq.  ;    hoUdays 


454 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 


abolished  at,  73  ;  state  of,  during 
Calvin's  banisliment,  102  ;  advan- 
tageous position  of,  117  ;  plague  at, 
135,  165;  state  of,  313,  note;  gym- 
nasium at,  founded,  377. 

Genevese,  the,  conclude  a  treaty  vrith 
B  erne  and  Friburgh,  44  ;  averse  to 
Calvin's  discipline,  70  ;  sworn  to  its 
observance,  71  ;  manners  of  the,  71 ; 
adopt  the  rites  of  Berne,  78;  their 
circular  letter  to  Zurich,  &c.,  106  ; 
endeavor  to  renew  the  Bernese  al- 
liance, 323. 

Gentile,  Gio.  Valenti,  some  account 
of,  371 ;  sentence  on,  373. 

GentiUiommes  de  la  CuilUre,  league 
so  called,  45. 

George,  David,  endeavors  to  save 
Servetus,  293. 

Gei-son,  20. 

Glauburg,  John,  349. 

Govei'nment,  influence  of,  on  religion, 
21. 

Granvella,  Cardinal,  96. 

Gribaldo  intercedes  for  Servetus,  294 ; 
account  of,  294,  et  seq. 

Grindal,  Edmund,  351. 

Gropper,  character  of,  98. 

Gruet,  Jaqiies,  apprehended,  183;  tor- 
tured and  beheaded,  184  ;  his  blas- 
phemies, 185. 

Grynaeus,  Simon,  38,  70  ;  receives 
Calvin  at  Basle,  84  ;  his  letter  to 
Calvin,  85. 

Giierin,  execution  of,  170. 

G  leroult,  Guillaume,  260  ;  apprehend- 
ed, 264. 

Guise,  dake  of,  orders  a  massacre  at 
Gorze,  144  ;  usurps  the  government, 
392  ;  baffles  the  conspiracy  of  Am- 
boise,  394 ;  his  conduct  at  Vassy, 
411 ;  enters  Paris,  413 ;  assassina- 
ted, 415. 

Gymnasium,  Genevese,  account  of, 
377. 


H. 

Haddon,  Dr.,  352. 

Hagenau,  diet  of,  95. 

Haller,  Berthold,  44. 

Haller,  I.,  his  opinion  on  the  Swiss 

letters   respecting   Servetus,  286 ; 

on  the  conduct  of  the  ministers  of 

the  Pays  de  Vaud,  318. 
Harlai,  President,  392. 
Harvey,  his  theory  of  the  circulation 

anticipated  by  Servetus,  255. 
Helding,  Michael,  197. 
Helvetic  Confession,  Calvin  required 

to  subscribe  it,  68 ;   misquoted  by 

Dr.  Henry,  287.  note. 


Henry  II,    accedes    to    the   Prench 

throne,  389  ;  death  of,  392. 
Henry,  Dr.  Paul,  his  opinion  on  Trie's 

letters,  263  ;  his  view  of  Servetus's 

execution,  299. 
Heptameron,  the,  26. 
Hesshus,  Calvin's  controversy  with, 

423. 
Hobbes,  his  opinion  on  the  cause  of 

sin,  222. 
Hochstraten,his  efforts  against  Reuch 

lin,  29,  note. 
Hooper,  Dr.,  his  scruples  respecting 

the  robes,  240. 
Hotoman,  his  letter  to  Bullinger,  305. 
Huguenots,    Calvinists,    when    first 

called,  394. 


I  and  J. 

January,  edict  of,  407. 

Jehovah,  Calvin's  use  of  that  nam© 
objected  to,  67,  et  seq. 

Impostoribus,  de  tribus,  book  enti- 
tled, 185. 

Inquisition,  establishment  of  the,  in 
Trance,  389. 

Institutes,  first  edition  of  the,  38  ; 
second  edition,  93  ;  alterations  in, 
298. 

Interim,  the,  Calvin's  tract  against, 
197  ;  description  of,  198  ;  works 
against,  200  ;  the  Leipsic,  200. 

Joachim  II.,  his  share  in  the  Interim, 
197. 

Judex,  Matthew,  201. 

Julius  II.,  Pope,  assembles  the  Late- 
ran  council,  20. 

July,  edict  of,  400. 

Jussie,  Soeur  de,  her  flight  from  Gen- 
eva, 57. 


K. 


Knox,  John,  346  ;  elected  minister  at 
Erankfort,  352  ;  banished  thence, 
355 ;  quits  Geneva,  387 ;  his  letter 
to  Calvin,  387 ;  Calvin  cautions^ 
against  intolerance,  387. 


La  Baraudiere,  Mademoiselle,  409. 

Lainez,  404. 

Lange,  316 ;  accuses  Calvin  of  heresy, 

321. 
Lateran,  council  of,  20. 
Lausanne,  disputation  of,  63;  synod 

of,  G6  ;  anothei-,  76. 


INDEX. 


455 


Lawrence,  Dr.,  "Bampton  Lecture," 
39,  note. 

Le  Clerc,  Jean,  martyrdom  of,  25. 

Le  Coq  attempts  to  convert  Francis 
L,  29. 

Le  E/Oux,  Gerard,  37;  assassinated, 
37;  Calvin's  ttact  against,  161. 

Lever,  Thomas,  352. 

Libertines,  or  Patriots,  rise  of  the, 
170 ;  strengthened  by  the  affair  of 
Sei'vetus,  306 ;  feigned  reconcilia- 
tion with  Calvin,  313 ;  their  violence, 
323,  et  seq. ;  discomfiture,  327. 

Libertines,  Spiritual,  tenets  of  the, 
153  ;  Calvin's  tract  against,  154. 

Locke,  his  opinion  on  providence  and 
freewill,  220,  note. 

Loci,  Melancthon's,  remarkable  pas- 
sage in  Calvin's  preface  to,  223. 

L'Hopital,  Chancellor,  his  advice  to 
Catherine  de  Medicis,  397 ;  frames 
the  edict  of  January,  407. 

Lorraine,  Cardinal  of,  389,  392  ,  his 
cowardice,  393. 

Louis  XII.  cites  Pope  Julius  to  Tours, 
20. 

Luther,  a  cautious  innovator,  14  ;  ap- 
peals to  the  Sorbonne,  22 ;  his  opin- 
ion of  Erasmus,  30 ;  his  esteem  for 
learning,  48 ;  suspects  the  counter- 
Reformers,  97  ;  his  noble  enthusi- 
asm, 126;  his  dislike  of  the  Zwin- 
glians,  156 ;  his  sentiments  on  the 
reply  of  the  Zurich  clergy,  159. 

Lutherans,  all  Protestants  so  called, 
26. 


M. 


Maigret,  174. 

Maigret,  le  Magnifique,  188. 

Malot,  406. 

Mamelukes,  faction  so  called,  43. 

Mar,  de  la,  173. 

Marlorat,  381. 

Marian  exiles,  account  of,  345,  et  seq. 

Marot,  Clement,  27 ;  flies  from  Pai'is, 
38  ;  secretary  to  the  Duchess  of 
Perrara,  40 ;  his  version  of  the 
Psalms,  391. 

Martyr,  Peter,  his  opinion  on  the  cler- 
ical habits,  241 ;  vindicates  the  ex- 
ecution of  Servetus,  299  ;  attends 
the  conference  of  Poissy,  404. 

Megander,  76. 

Melancthon,  invited  to  Paris  by  Fran- 
cis I.,  38  ;  his  scholarship,  48;  senti- 
ments on  the  eucharist,  88 ;  invit- 
ed to  England,  89  ;  at  Worms,  96  ; 
opinion  of  Eck,  99 ;  his  hypochon- 
driachism,  126  ;  sentiments  on  Free 


Will,  140,  et  seq.;  laments  Luther's 
violence,  157 ;  his  Loci  translated 
by  Calvin,  194 ;  conduct  regarding 
the  Interim,  200,  et  seq. ;  agrees 
with  the  Zurich  Conse?isus,  212; 
rejects  Calvin's  docti-ine  of  repro- 
bation, 212  ;  agrees  with  Stadianus, 
221;  invited  to  England,  242;  ap- 
proves of  the  execution  of  Servetus, 
299  ;  rejects  the  real  presence,  338; 
receives  Farel  and  Bez a  at  Worms, 
343  ;  recommends  toleration,  378  ; 
death,  422. 

Merlin,  381. 

Metz,  state  of  religion  at,  143. 

Meynier,  Baron  d'Oppede,  168. 

Ministers,  Genevese,  method  of  elect- 
ing, 122  ;  demand  for,  398. 

Miroir  de  V  Ame  p6cMresse,  26. 

Mommor,  family  of,  patronize  Calvin, 

17.  V, 

Montmorency,  Constable,  396  ;  joins 
the  Triumvirate,  400. 

Montchenu,  75.  •fe 

Moses,  legislation  of,  compared  with 
Calvin's,  131. 

Mosheim,  297. 


N. 


Navarre,  dueen  of  (see  Valois). 

Nemesius,  255. 

Nicodemites,  the,  161. 

Normandie,  Laurent  de,  215. 

Normandy,  progress  of  the  Reforma- 
tion in,  395,  396. 

Noy on, Calvin's  birthplace,  16;  thanks- 
giving at,  for  his  death,  215,  360. 


O. 


OcHiNO,  Bernardin,  291,  368. 

CEcolampadius,  his  advice  to  Farel, 
48 ;  to  the  Waldenses,  167  ;  corre- 
spondence with  Servetus,  250 ;  opin- 
ion on  Servetus's  book,  252. 

Olivetan,  Pierre  Robeit,  exhorts  Cal- 
vin to  study  the  Scriptures,  19 ;  flies 
from  Paris,  38. 

Oporinus,  84,  346. 

Oratory  of  Divitie  Love,  the,  97. 

Orleans,  synod  of,  414  ;  peace  of,  417. 

Ory,  Matthias,  263  ;  his  subtlety,  270   ^ 


P. 


Pag.mnus,  Xaintes,  257. 
Palmier,  P.,  Archbishop  of  Vienne, 
patronizes  Servetus.  256 


156 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 


Papists,  the,  constitute  the  remains 

of  a  church,  213. 
Paris,  state  of  learning  in  the  Univers- 
ity of,  22  ;  first  Protestant  church  in, 
390  ;  persecutions  at,  392. 
i  Parkhurst,  Bishop,  347. 

^'^.  Parthenai,  Jean  de,  40. 

*  Pasquier,  remark  of,  on  Calvin's  style, 

*  440. 

Passive  obedience,  Calvin's  theory  of, 
"^  119. 

Paul  III.,  Pope,  remonstrates  with  the 
emperor,  151. 

Pays  de  Vaud,  overrun  by  the  Bern- 
ese, 44 ;  divided  into  classes,  63 ; 
dissensions  in  the,  378. 

Pelagius,  his  opinions,  219  ;  anathe- 
matized, 219. 

Pellicanus,  on  transubstantiation,  14, 
note. 

Perrin,  Ami,  promotes  the  Reforma- 
tion at  Geneva,  50  ;  invites  Calvin 
back,  106  ;  head  of  the  Patriot  party, 
171 ;  Calvin's  letter  to,  181 ;  impris- 
oned, 182;  disgraced,  188;  restored, 
192 ;  elected  first  syndic,  193  ;  en- 
deavors to  save  Servetus,  287  ;  op- 
^^|fe,  poses  the  citizenshipof  the  refugees, 

W  326  ;  flies  from  Geneva,  328  ;   sen- 

^  tence  upon,  328. 

Person,  Calvin's  use  of  that  term,  67, 
70. 

Pflug,  Julius,  character  of,  98 ;  assists 
in  framing  the  Interim,  198. 

Philippe,  Jean,  execution  of,  105. 

Pighius,  Albert,  account  of,  138 ;  an- 
swered by  Calvin,  139. 

Placards,  the,  35. 

Plague,  conspiracy  to  spread  the,  165, 

Planck,  his  account  of  Calvin's  doc- 
trine of  the  eucharist,  210. 

*  Pocques,  154. 
Poitiers,  Diane  de,  389. 
Poissy,  conference  of,  390,  et  seq. 
Poland,  toleration  in,  375. 
Pollan,  Valerandus,  361. 
Poltrot,  515. 

Poupin  (or  Pepin),  Abel,  182,  259. 

Pre  aux  Clercs,  meetings  in  the,  391. 

Predestination,  that  doctrine  adopted 
»  by  St.  Augustin,  217  ;  Calvin's  the- 

ory of,  220  ;  first  adoption  of,  223. 

Presbyterianism,  Calvin  the  founder 
of,  123. 

*  Prostitution,  sanctioned  at  Geneva,  73. 
Psalm-singing,  its  vogue  in  France, 

391. 
Pseudonyms,  Calvin's,  40. 
Psychopannychia,  Calvin's  tract  on, 

35. 
Puritans,  predilection  of,  for  the  Old 

Testament,  131. 


a. 

dUERCU,  25. 

duintana,  249 ;  procures  an  edict  to 
suppress  Servetus's  book,  252. 

duintin,  a  leader  of  the  Spiritual  Lib- 
ertines, 154. 


R. 


Rabelais,  his  dedication  to  M.  de 
Valois,  27  ;  stigmatized  by  Calvin, 
215. 

Radzivill,  Prince,  375. 

Ramus,  P.,  408. 

Ratisbon,  diet  of,  97 ;  results  of  the, 
101. 

Reformation,  effect  of  the,  125. 

Refugees,  number  and  situation  of 
the,  at  Geneva,  171,  et  seq. ;  forbid- 
den to  carry  arms,  306 ;  disturbances 
respecting  their  admission  to  citi 
zenship,  326. 

Renee,  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  40. 

Reuchlin,  29. 

Reuchlinists  join  Luther,  29.  ^ 

Revenues,    ecclesiastical,    Calvin's 
opinion  on,  120. 

Richardet,  Claude,  death  of,  105. 

Ridley,  Bishop,  disapproves  of  Knox's 
conduct  at  Frankfort,  358. 

Romorantin,  edict  of,  395. 

Rous,  Conrad,  251. 

Ruchat,  his  remarks  on  excommuni- 
cation, 382,  383. 


S. 


Saconay,  Gabriel  de,  Calvin's  tract 

against,  422. 
Sacramentaries,  15. 
Sadolet,  Cardinal,  his  epistle  to  the 

Genevese,  94 ;  protects  the  Wal- 

denses,  170. 
Sage,  Jaques,  arrest  of,  396. 
St.  Andre,  Marshal,  399,  400. 
St.  Eloi,  Abbot  of,  18. 
St.  Germains,  conference  at,  406. 
St.  Medard,  riot  in  the  church  of,  406 
Saunier,  Antoine,  50. 
Savoy,  house  of,  its  attempts  on  Gen- 

eva,  43. 
Saxony,   Elector   of,    condemns    the 

Sacramentaries,  422. 
Scaliger,  Jos.,  his  remark  on  Calvin, 

39,  note. 
Schaling,  Calvin's  letter  to,  337. 
Secerius,  John,  251. 
Seguier,  President,  392. 
Servetus  challenges  Calvin  to  a  dis 


INDEX. 


457 


putation,  35;  sketch  of  his  life,  249, 
et  seq. ;  conespondence  with  Cal- 
vin, 258  ;  publishes  his  Restitutio 
Christianismi,  260 ;  his  apprehen- 
sion and  trial  at  Vienne,  263,  264, 
et  seq. ;  escapes  from  prison,  271 ; 
sentence  on  him,  272 ;  arrives  at 
Geneva,  274 ;  his  arrest  and  trial, 
274,  275,  et  seq. ;  his  pantheistic 
principles,  277  ;  hai'dship  of  his  im- 
prisonment, 278  ;  denied  the  benefit 
of  counsel,  279  ;  his  insolence  to- 
ward Calvin,  282  ;  different  opinions 
on  his  case,  286  ;  last  interview  with 
Calvin,  288  ;  sentence,  289  ;  .execu- 
tion, 290, 291,  et  seq. ;  character,  292. 

Siculus,  Georgius,  222,  223. 

Sigmond,  Dr.,  his  character  of  Serve- 
tus,  292. 

Simon,  Father,  his  opinion  of  Calvin's 
writings,  440. 

Simon  Magns,  280,  282. 

Sleidan,  his  account  of  the  Sorbonne, 
23  ;  Calvin's  letter  to,  respecting 
Melancthon,  339. 

Smalcaldic  league,  197. 

Socinus,  Laelius,  consults  Calvin,  212; 
his  attempts  in  Poland,  375. 

•)cinians,  origin  and  character  of  the, 
212. 

Somerset,  Protector,  Carkvin's  letter 
to,  238. 

Sorbonne,  account  of  the,  22,  et  seq. ; 
Calvin's  answer  to  the,  137. 

Spires,  diet  of,  150. 

Stadianus',  F.,  on  providence  and  con- 
tingency, 221. 

Stella,  Petrus  (or  P.  de  I'Etoile),  18. 

Strasbui'gh,  state  of  the  church  at, 
87 ;  rejects  the  Interim,  197, 

Sturmius,  254. 

Sulzer,  Calvin's  letter  to,  respecting 
Servetus,  284. 

Supralapsarian  doctrine,  Calvin's,  221. 

Syndics,  office  of  the,  60. 


T. 


Tagaut,  John,  384. 

Terence,  metres  of,  first  arranged  by 
Melancthon,  48. 

Toumon,  Cardinal,  persecutes  the 
Waldenses,  169  ;  archbishop  of  Ly- 
ons, 263 ;  manager  of  the  conference 
at  Poissy,  403. 

Traherori,  Bartholomew,  243. 

Trechsel,  Melchior  and  Caspar,  254. 

Trent,  Council  of,  Calvin's  work 
against,  195. 

Trie,  Guillaume,  his  letters  to  Ar- 
neys,  260. 

U 


Trinity,  Calvin's  use  of  that  name, 

67,  70. 
Tritheists,  Trinitarians  so  called  by 

Servetus,  293. 
Triunqivirate,  origin  of  the,  400. 
Troillet,  his  revenge  against  Calvin, 

191. 
Troubles  at  Frankfort,  character  of 

that  tract,  348. 
Turretin,  297. 


Vadianus,  or  Wat,  243. 

Valla,  L  aurentius,  the  reputed  author 
of  predestination,  227, 

Valois,  Marguerite  de,  character  of, 
26,  et  seq. ;  encourages  the  Reform- 
ed preachers,  34  ;  saves  the  life  of 
Gerard  le  Roux,  37 ;  protects  the 
Spiritual  Libertines,  154, 

Vandel  procures  Calvin's  condemna- 
tion, 82,  83 ;  opposes  the  admission 
of  the  I'efugees  to  citizenship,  326  ; 
flies  from  Geneva,  328, 

Vassy,  massacre  of,  411, 

Vaticamis,  an  answer  to  Calvin's  i2e- 
utatio,  304. 
au,  M.  de,  defames  Calvin,  125. 

Vienne,  archbishop  of,  metropolitan 
of  Geneva,  45, 

Viret,  Calvin  lodges  at  the  house  of, 
41  ;  nearly  poisoned,  62 ;  becomes 
minister  at  Lausanne,  62 ;  returns 
for  a  while  to  Geneva,  106 ;  inter- 
cedes for  the  Waldenses  at  Pai-is, 
170  ;  Calvin's  letter  to,  intercepted, 
190  ;  assists  Calvin  against  the 
council,  192;  retains  Servetus'sMS., 
259  ;  his  factious  conduct  toward 
Berne,  318,  379;  threatens  to  re- 
sign, 379  ;  dismissed,  381 ;  retires 
to  Geneva,  384, 

Vives,  his  letter  to  Erasmus,  22, 


Vau 


W.      . 

Walbenses,  persecution  of  the,  167 ; 
consult  CEcolampadius,  167  ;  mas- 
sacre of  the,  169  ;  flight,  170. 

Welsius,  Justus,  361. 

Wernly,  Peter,  canon  of  St.  Peter's, 
wounded,  46 ;  killed,  54. 

Wesel,  refugees  at,  persecuted,  362, 

Westphal,  Joachim,  attacks  the  Zu- 
rich Consensus,  333  ;  persecutes 
A'Lasco  and  his  brother  fugitives, 
334  ;  answers  Calvin,  335. 

Whittingham,  William,  author  of  the 
Troubles   at  Frankfort,  348  ;    his 


458 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  CALVIN. 


circular,  349 ;  returns  to  England, 
362. 

Wier  (or  Wierus),  John,  254. 

Wittenberg,  Concordat  of,  333. 

Wolmar,  Melchior,  Calvin's  tutor,  in- 
clines him  toward  Protestantism,  19. 

Worms,  diet  of,  96. 


Xaintes.  de,  51. 


Zanchi  defends  the  execution  of  Ser- 
vetuSj  305. 


Zebedee,  316, 

Zurich,  clergy  of;  persuade  Calvin  to 
return  to  Geneva,  108 ;  their  answer 
to  Luther,  158. 

Zurich,  synod  of,  79 ;  Concordat  of, 
208  ;  mildness  of  the  laws  at,  312. 

Zurkinden  (Zerkinta)  disapproves  of 
Calvin's  book  against  Servetus, 
303 ;  espouses  the  cause  of  Bian- 
drata,  371. 

Zwingli,  his  character  as  a  Reformer, 
14 ;  his  doctrine  of  necessity,  233  ; 
averse  to  persecution,  251 ;  his  view 
of  the  sacraments  rejected  by  Cal- 
vin, 320. 


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